ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Eastern Kurdistan Units (YRK) on Sunday accused Iran of carrying out a deadly drone strike in eastern Sulaimani province’s Penjwen district, killing one of its fighters.
Local officials on Saturday said the drone was Turkish. Ankara has not commented on the incident.
“This attack was carried out by Iran against our forces,” read a statement from the YRK, the armed wing of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK). It said suicide “suicide drone” killed a fighter identified as Simko Kobane.
PJAK is an Iran-based armed group widely believed to be an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The latter group declared a unilateral ceasefire and on July 11 had a ceremonial disarmament where 30 fighters, including commanders, burned their weapons.
On May 12, the PKK announced its dissolution and intention to disarm after being urged to do so by their founder, Abdullah Ocalan, who said it was time to take the struggle for Kurdish rights in Turkey into the political sphere.
However, PJAK has said it would continue its armed struggle against Tehran despite PKK’s decision to dissolve itself, saying Ocalan’s decision does not include them.
“We, as the forces of Eastern Kurdistan [western Iran], will not remain defenseless against these types of attacks and will defend ourselves to the end within the framework of our legitimate rights. We do not attack anyone in any way, but we always defend ourselves,” the group added.
PJAK operates from bases in the Kurdistan Region’s Mount Qandil, where the PKK is also headquartered. The group has clashed with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and is banned in Iran.
Several Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups, including PJAK, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), Komala, and the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), have been relocated away from the Iran-Kurdistan Region border as part of a 2023 security agreement between Baghdad and Tehran. Iran has frequently targeted these groups with cross-border strikes, accusing them of inciting unrest inside its borders.
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