Iraq, Iran exchange remain of their soldiers

A new exchange of remains of soldiers killed in the war erupted between Iraq and Iran in 1980- 1988 has been made, according to the Iraqi official news agency.

The agency added that exchange took place on Thursday at the Iraqi border town of al- Shilamcha in the southern Iraqi province of Basra.

The Iraqi news agency mentioned no numbers for the remains exchanged, but a source at the International Committee of the Red Cross was quoted by reporters as saying the two sides swapped bodied of 74 Iraqis and 77 Iranians.

However, the last exchange of soldiers remains between the two countries took place on November 14 when the two sides traded the bodied of 18 Iraqis and 78 Iranians.

An estimated one million Iranians and Iraqis were killed in the said war. Thousands of fighters from both sides were listed as missing or prisoners of war are among the main issues obstructing the normalization of relations between the two neighborly countries.