Iran kills scores of drug bandits, frees hostages

TEHRAN, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Iranian troops killed scores of Afghan drug traffickers in a major ambush on Friday and freed 27 hostages held by the bandits, a senior police official said.

The official said on state television that 35 armed bandits had been killed or taken prisoner in the raid on their mountain hideout near the Afghan border.

He said the traffickers had recently raided a border village in eastern Khorasan province and kidnapped 27 people.

Iran is a transit route for drugs from Afghanistan and Pakistan to the West.

Iran has recently dispatched troops from all branches of its armed forces to end a wave of kidnappings and murder along its border with Afghanistan.