Iran strikes Kurdish opposition groups with 'missiles, suicide drones'

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran on Wednesday used suicide drones and missiles to strike several Iranian-Kurdish opposition parties stationed deep in the Kurdistan Region, killing at least nine and injuring over a dozen others, officials told Rudaw.

On the fifth consecutive day of bombardment, Iran targeted the opposition Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), and Komala in both Sulaimani and Erbil provinces. The bombardment is ongoing. 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said "Fateh-360 missiles and suicide drones” were used in the attacks, Iranian state media reported. 

PAK suffered “several” casualties as a result of the shelling on its base in Sherawa near Kirkuk's Pirde (Altun Kupri), party head Hussein Yazdanpanah said, without specifying the number.

The attack also targeted the camp of leftist opposition group Komala camps in Sulaimani province’s Zargwez where its based, and KDPI’s headquarters in Koya.

“Iran has attacked the headquarters of our party in Koya,” KDPI tweeted.

The KDPI is a Kurdish opposition party that has waged an on-and-off armed war against the Iranian government since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran continued shelling KDPI and PAK bases in Koya and Sherawa through the afternoon, Rudaw's live footage showed.

Sherawa is the scene of a fierce battle between PAK fighters and Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in October of 2017. 

"Iran is currently attacking the main fort with missiles and suicide drones,” the KDPI tweeted at around 2:00 pm. 

Kurdistan Region Health Minister Saman Barzinji said at least three people have died - two in Koya and one in Sherawa. The KDPI have so far confirmed the death of four of their fighters. 

Barzinji later raised the death toll to seven - four in Koya and three in Pirde. 

At least 24 others have been wounded as a result of the attacks, he added. 

The Region’s health ministry also put all hospitals in Erbil on alert following the attacks, Erbil governor Omed Khoshnaw said. 

Civilians are reported wounded in Iran's attack on Koya.  

Mohammed Salih Qaderi, head of KDPI’s public affairs said the attack was “on the camp where women and children are, civilian people are there.”

Bases of Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups are “close by” the camp of the KDPI, he added. 

The IRGC vowed to continue its operations against Kurdish groups based in the Region “until all bases are dismantled and the KRG fulfills its duty in doing so," Tasnim News Agency reported. 

“Several” Komala members have suffered slight injuries, party member Abdullah Azeber said.

The attack targeted several positions of Komala party in Zargwez, senior party member Osman Khalili said, adding that all but the party's leadership building have been destroyed.

Komala’s camp is 20 kilometers southwest of Sulaimani, where the group has settled since the 1980s.

Komala secretary Abdullah Muhtedi condemned the recent attacks by Iran, saying the offense “will definitely unite the parties and unite” the Kurds in Iran “further against the Islamic republic.”

“We call on the West, on America, to put an end to Iran’s aggressions,” he added. 

Telegram channels affiliated with IRGC said Iran used Shahed-136 drones in the attack, the same aircraft that Russia is using in its war on Ukraine.

Another Komala member, Aram Modaressi, claimed that at least “16 suicide drones” were used to target two of their bases in Sulaimani’s Zargwez. 

Iran has accused Kurdish opposition groups of fueling the latest wave of protests in Iran triggered by the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in police custody earlier this month.

The IRGC on Saturday warned locals in the Kurdistan Region to “stay away” from offices and locations of the Kurdish armed groups.  

Updated at 7:59 pm