ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—More clashes between Peshmerga of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) broke out on Thursday in a second day of violence in the Shno area of Iran. A KDPI press release issued on Friday, states, “A group of political cadres who were accompanied by a Peshmerga platoon went to the villages of Sergiz and Qereseqe [in Shno]. Our cadres and Peshmergas came under fire by forces of the Iranian regime. The ensuing battle in this village lasted for 10 hours and continued in several other places of the region until around 23:00 on June 16.” The KDPI accused the Iranian forces of shelling “the villages of Sergiz and Qereseqe in the most brutal way, causing civilian deaths and destruction of property.” The group did not release numbers of civilian casualties but claimed to have killed more than 20 Iranian soldiers, stating on Twitter on Friday, “We have the identity of more than 20 killed [Iranian Revolutionary Guards] soldiers & commanders.” Also on Friday, IRGC forces ambushed Peshmerga in the region of Sarokani in Piranshar. “The Peshmergas managed to break the Iranian ambush without any casualties. The battle lasted for one hour,” the KDPI confirmed in a press release on their website. Thursday’s clashes come after similar violence on Wednesday in Shno where at least six Iranian forces were killed. The IRGC also issued confirmation of the skirmishes in a statement published on their website. “In a clash that happened between the Iranian forces and terrorists in the northwest of Iran, 12 of the terrorists were killed and we have captured weapons, ammunitions and classified documents.” The Iranians announced that three of their forces were killed and they warned they will not let anyone destabilize the security of their borders. The KDPI’s Operational Command confirmed that an undisclosed number of its Peshmerga were killed and said it would “release the names of our martyred Peshmerga in due course.” The KDPI and its other branches ceased armed activities against Iran some years ago to seek a political solution. But leaders say they have recently moved some of their fighters into towns and the border areas. In May of 2015 KDPI deployed its Peshmerga forces to the border between southern (Iraqi) Kurdistan and eastern (Iranian) Kurdistan. The KDPI was founded by the president of the first Kurdish republic in Mahabad, Qazi Muhammed, in 1945. The current leader of the party is Mustafa Hijri and its headquarters are based in Iraqi Kurdistan. Following the establishment of the Islamic republic in 1979, the KDPI and other secular political organizations opposed the republic and a war between the Kurdish movement and the Iranian regime lasted until the mid-1990s. On the occasion of Newroz, Mustafa Hijri announced that the KDPI would send Peshmerga and political cadres to eastern Kurdistan (Iran) in order to facilitate closer interactions with the Kurdish people.
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