Iran launched fresh strikes against Kurdish opposition groups in neighbouring Iraqi Kurdistan late Sunday. Iran’s “Revolutionary Guard Corps have again bombarded Iranian Kurdish parties”, the counter-terrorism department of Iraqi Kurdistan said. The Kurdish party has said that the strikes killed at least one person.
Iran has been rocked by protests following Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody after she was arrested by the country’s morality police for not wearing the hijab properly.
The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) said that the Koya and Jejnikan regions near Arbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, were attacked with missiles and suicide drones.
“These indiscriminate attacks are occurring at a time when the terrorist regime of Iran is unable to stop the ongoing demonstrations in (Iranian) Kurdistan,” the PDKI, the oldest Kurdish party in Iran, said.
Iranian Kurdish nationalist group Komala said installations in northern Iraq were also targetted by the attacks.
“Our HQ was once again attacked by the Islamic Regime tonight. We’ve been carefully prepared for these types of attacks & have no losses for the moment,” it said on Twitter.
Tehran blames Kurdish-Iranian opposition groups for instigating the “riots” at home and has stepped up its attacks.
Tehran had launched similar cross-border attacks a few days back, killing at least one person. It launched attacks in late September that killed more than a dozen people in the Kurdistan region.
The US Central Command condemned the “illegal” Iranian strikes near Arbil.
“We condemn this evening’s Iranian cross-border missile and unmanned aerial vehicle strikes,” Centcom commander General Michael Kurilla said in a statement.
“Such indiscriminate and illegal attacks place civilians at risk, violate Iraqi sovereignty, and jeopardise the hard-fought security and stability of Iraq and the Middle East.”
The latest Iranian attacks come a day after Turkey carried out air raids against Kurdish militants in Iraqi Kurdistan and northern Syria.
Bases of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were targetted following a blast in central Istanbul a week ago that killed six people and wounded 81. The PKK has been designated a terrorist group by Turkey and its western allies. However, the group has denied involvement in the Istanbul explosion.
(With inputs from agencies)
