BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi security forces patrolling near the Iranian border found six donkeys carrying dozens of high-explosive anti-tank mines, the U.S. military said in a statement Thursday.

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The military said two men fled the scene in the religiously-mixed Diyala province where the insurgency is active.

It was not clear from the statement where the donkeys, a common form of transport in the region, had come from.

U.S. officials have often accused Iran of arming militant groups in Iraq.

The statement said Iraqi forces seized 53 Russian- and Italian-made anti-tank landmines and one anti-tank projectile.

"The donkeys were later released unharmed into the local area," the military said.