At least one person has been killed in a series of bombings carried out by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards against positions of Kurdish groups in the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, amid a military response following Tehran’s denunciations of the role of these groups in the protests that have been taking place in the country since September over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, arrested for allegedly wearing the veil incorrectly.
According to information gathered by the Iranian television channel Al Alam, among the bombed targets are positions of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) and Komala in the localities of Koya and Baharka, located in the region of Erbil, where the capital of the semi-autonomous region (north) is located.
The PDKI has confirmed on its Twitter social network account that a member of the party has been killed in the attacks. «The terrorist Iranian Revolutionary Guard has attacked two bases of the PDKI with missiles and suicide drones,» it has said, hours after publishing a statement on its website in which it has denounced that two refugee camps in Koya and Jejnikan have also been attacked.
«These indiscriminate attacks are taking place at a time when the terrorist regime in Iran is unable to contain the demonstrations in (Iranian) Kurdistan. Anti-regime demonstrations have spread to hundreds of cities and villages from north to south, east and west of Iran. Many demonstrators have been killed or injured at the hands of the terrorist Revolutionary Guards,» he said.
Thus, the PDKI has stressed that it «condemns in the strongest terms» the bombings and called on the international community to «support the Kurdish people.» «We call on the international community to hold the Iranian regime accountable for these attacks,» the Kurdish party’s International Relations Office has said.
For his part, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Michael Kurilla has condemned «cross-border missile and drone attacks near Erbil, Iraq.» «These indiscriminate and unlawful attacks put civilians at risk, violate Iraqi sovereignty, and jeopardize the hard-earned security and stability of Iraq and the Middle East,» he said.
The attacks came days after Revolutionary Guards Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani threatened ground operations against Kurdish opposition groups based in Iraq. Last week two people were killed in Iranian bombings and drone strikes against the PDKI headquarters in Koya, while similar attacks in September killed 16 people.
The Iraqi government last week condemned «in the strongest terms» the artillery and drone attacks carried out by Iran and noted that «this unilateral and hostile stance will not be a factor in achieving solutions that lead to stability,» amid Tehran’s criticism of Baghdad over the operations of these groups.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard suspended these operations on October 10 after «destroying predetermined targets.» «The continuation of the attacks will depend on the future behavior of the authorities in the northern region of Iraq,» the Revolutionary Guard said at the time.
Iranian authorities have accused Kurdish opposition groups of whipping up recent protests in the country over Amini’s death, which have had their epicenter in the Kurdistan region. Iran has some seven million Kurds, representing about ten percent of its population. Most of them live in the Kurdistan region, located in the northwest of the country, next to the border with Iraq.
