ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A member of The Democratic Party of Kurdistan Iran (PDKI) was killed by in Erbil’s Soran district on the early hours of Friday. Local authorities said the man’s son was arrested in connection with the murder.
“At 6 a.m. on March 30, a member of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan, Iran named Ahmed Irani was attacked, and he lost his life right away,” a member of the PDKI told Rudaw, not wanting to reveal his identity for security reasons.
“Ahmed Irani is from Naghada in Rojhelat [Iranian Kurdistan]. He resided in the Daratu town in Erbil. He was on a visit to Soran, and he was attacked there,” the PDKI member further revealed.
Sardar Irani, a nephew of Ahmed Irani, told Rudaw gunmen opened fire on him at 6:30 a.m.
"The security forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government are conducting investigations. Our sole enemy is the Islamic Republic, and only the Islamic government did this," said Sardar Irani.
The deceased man’s son, Mohammed Ahmed Hussein, was arrested a few hours after the shooting, Soran district spokesperson Hawar Argushi said in a press conference on Friday.
The official said the son has not expressed remorse over the killing, saying that mistreatment by his father was motive for the murder.
Ahmed Irani was on a visit to his sister-in-law's house in Diyana for two to three days when he was killed, explained the nephew. He leaves behind a wife and two children.
The slain Peshmerga was alone at home sleeping. The gunmen opened fire on him while he was asleep, according to Sardar Irani.
Initial suspicion for the murder was cast on Iran. The nephew rejected that they have any social issues in the KRG, and pointed out fingers solely to the Islamic Republic. In 2009, the slain Peshmerga left Rojhelat.
Soran’s police department told Rudaw that the body was taken to the forensic department.
“There are signs of multiple bullets,” said spokesperson Hawar Argushi.
Ahmed Irani was a nom de guerre for Ahmed Mir Ahmedi who was born in 1964. He has been a PDKI Peshmerga for 40 years and imprisoned by the Islamic Republic of Iran three times. He will be buried in the Martyrs Cemetery in Koya.
This year, there have been a string of attacks against high ranking PDKI commanders and members.
On March 1, a father and a son, both Peshmerga members of the PDKI, were targeted by a bomb beneath their car in Bnaslawa. The son lost his life while the father survived.
Qadir Qadiri, a commander of the Kurdistan Democratic Party-Iran, was killed in a Kurdish village in Raniya of Sulaimani province, about 79 kilometers east of Erbil city on March 6. Five people were arrested in connection with his assassination on March 19, his party said in a statement then.
PDKI, a Kurdish guerilla group operating in the border regions between the Kurdistan Region and Iranian Kurdistan, blames the attacks on Iranian agents.
It and other major armed Kurdish political parties opposed to Islamic Republic announced this year they aim to improve communication between the parties and push towards larger Kurdish population centers in Iran.
Last updated at 12:04 p.m.
