ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—An Iranian parliamentarian survived an assassination attempt that killed his driver and a local official Sunday afternoon. Initial reports indicate that the attack may have been carried out by the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK).
Heshmatollah Falahatpishe, Member of Parliament for Islamabad Gharb, was in the Rijab region of Kermanshah Province in western Iran with the governor of the province and other local officials when the car they were travelling in was shot at.
His driver, identified by IRNA as Mr. Karami, and Dr. Nikazm, who oversees Dalahu city’s veterinary network, were both killed, Farhad Tajari, MP for Qasr-e-Shirin, confirmed to IRNA.
Four perpetrators of the attack opened fire on the officials from a car according to Tajari, which they then set on fire and fled the scene on foot.
Falahatpishe, Faramarz Akbari, the governor of Dalahu, and Farzad Fazli, Director of the General Fisheries Department in Kermanshah province, were injured, according to IRNA.
“The identity of the assassins – whether they are bandits or belong to other groups – is not clear to us,” acting Minister of the Interior Hosseinali Amiri informed IRNA. “Security and disciplinary forces are looking for them,” he added.
A lawmaker from Kermanshah city, Ahmad Safari, however, told Mizan Online that the attackers belonged to the armed Kurdish group PJAK.
PJAK has recently clashed with Iranian forces in the Kurdish northwest of Iran.
Heshmatollah Falahatpishe, Member of Parliament for Islamabad Gharb, was in the Rijab region of Kermanshah Province in western Iran with the governor of the province and other local officials when the car they were travelling in was shot at.
His driver, identified by IRNA as Mr. Karami, and Dr. Nikazm, who oversees Dalahu city’s veterinary network, were both killed, Farhad Tajari, MP for Qasr-e-Shirin, confirmed to IRNA.
Four perpetrators of the attack opened fire on the officials from a car according to Tajari, which they then set on fire and fled the scene on foot.
Falahatpishe, Faramarz Akbari, the governor of Dalahu, and Farzad Fazli, Director of the General Fisheries Department in Kermanshah province, were injured, according to IRNA.
“The identity of the assassins – whether they are bandits or belong to other groups – is not clear to us,” acting Minister of the Interior Hosseinali Amiri informed IRNA. “Security and disciplinary forces are looking for them,” he added.
A lawmaker from Kermanshah city, Ahmad Safari, however, told Mizan Online that the attackers belonged to the armed Kurdish group PJAK.
PJAK has recently clashed with Iranian forces in the Kurdish northwest of Iran.
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