IRGC strikes Kurdistan Region with Kamikaze drones, ballistic missiles as protests continue at home

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired a barrage of missiles and Kamikaze drones on Monday targeting the bases of Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups inside the Kurdistan Region for the second time in two months as anti-government protests in Iran see no sign of abetting across the country.

The IRGC has blamed Kurdish opposition groups of fomenting the unrest inside the country where the guards and other security forces have killed at least 339 protesters and bystanders including 52 children, according to Kurdish rights monitors.

The attack comes one day before the third anniversary of the nationwide antigovernment protests in November 2019 when 1,500 protesters were killed by the security forces following a surge in the price of petrol. The attack can be perceived as a warning to current protesters that the authorities will not end their crackdown even if the number of dead increases. 

The missile and drone strikes targeting the bases of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and Komala came shortly after a commander of the IRGC said that 100 people affiliated with the two parties have been detained during the ninth week of protests that have rocked the country and galvanized international public opinion against Tehran.

The attack occurred just before 9 a.m. local time, targeting the main base of the KDPI outside Koya town in Erbil province and a number of Komala bases in Zargwez outside Sulaimani city, local officials told Rudaw.  Two Peshmerga fighters from the KDPI identified as Aso (Hossein) Twana and Rebwar Abdi were killed. 

Kurdish officials condemned the attack shortly after the strike during a conference in Erbil. The US and German diplomatic missions to Iraq  also expressed their condemnations shortly after. 

“We condemn renewed Iranian missile and drone attacks on KR, which violate Iraqi sovereignty. Iraq should not be used as an arena to settle scores and its territorial integrity must be respected. Dialogue between Iraq and Iran over mutual security concerns is the only way forward,” United Mission Mission for Iraq said in a tweet.

The IRGC ground forces commander Mohamamd Pakpour said that further attacks are underway unless the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Iraqi federal government take appropriate steps to offset the situation.

Flights appear to have been affected at Erbil airport following the strike.

“We had warned the KRG and the central government of Iraq … to either expel, disarm or house these groups … in camps, but this did not happen,” IRGC’s Pakpour said adding that they security forces have found the footsteps of these groups in the protest in the Kurdish areas.

Pakpour named several other locations such as Bakrajo, Topzawa, Zargwez, Gerdachal, Jezhnakal and Pakshahr that will be targeted in the future if the Kurdish and Iraqi authorities did not take appropriate action.