Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency is reporting that the elite Revolutionary Guard has killed 12 militants in the country's Kurdish area.

The report by Tasnim, which has close relations with the Revolutionary Guard, says the clashes started at noon Tuesday and continued for hours in the town of Salasbabajani, near the Iraqi border and some 600 kilometers (380 miles) west of the capital, Tehran. It says three Guard members were wounded.

It quotes local governor Ali Akbar Akbari as saying the Guard confiscated the militants' weapons. It did not say who the militants were affiliated with.

In recent months, the Iranian media has occasionally reported clashes with Kurdish separatists and Islamic State group extremists.

In June, the Guard reported killing dozens of separatists and IS militants in three separate clashes.