fbpx
Wikipedia

Iran–PJAK conflict

January 01, 1970

The Iran–PJAK conflict is an armed conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Kurdish rebels of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), which began in 2004. The group has carried out numerous attacks in the Kurdistan Province of Iran and provinces of Western Iran. PJAK is closely affiliated with the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the primary opponent of the Republic of Turkey in the Kurdish–Turkish conflict.[15] PJAK has been designated as a terrorist organization by Iran, Japan, Turkey, and the United States.

Iran–PJAK conflict
Part of Kurdish separatism in Iran

Kurdish areas in Iran where the PJAK insurrection is concentrated[3][4]
Date1 April 2004 – present
Location
West-Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Kermanshah Provinces in Iran, Kurdistan Region in Iraq and Ağrı Province in Turkey
Status

Ongoing[5][failed verification][dubious – discuss]

  • First cease fire established in September 2011, as Iran's government claimed victory, while PJAK allegedly withdrew from Iranian territory.[6]
  • PJAK redeploy their positions across the Iran–Iraq border.[7]
  • Sporadic clashes take place in 2013–2015
  • A wider conflict erupts in 2016
Belligerents
 Iran
Supported by:
 Turkey (allegedly, denied by Iran)[1]
 United States (alleged by PJAK, since 2009)[2]

Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK)

  • Eastern Kurdistan Units (YRK)
  • Women's Defence Forces (HPJ)
Commanders and leaders

Current:

Former:
 Haji Ahmadi (2004–2011)
Majid Kavian †
Murat Karasac †
Agiri Rojhilat
Zanar Agri
Ihsan Warya
Akif Zagros
Gulistan Dugan
Resit Ehkendi (POW)
Strength
15,000 (according to PJAK)[8]

600[9]–1,000[10][11] fighters

2,000[12]–3,000[13] fighters (according to PJAK).
Casualties and losses
PJAK claim
539 KIA (536 Revolutionary Guard, 3 police officers)
1 helicopter shot down (2004–14, see below)
Iranian claim
64 KIA Iran's statement		 263 KIA
2 executed
40 Kurdish civilians killed (2004–14, see below)
Total: 669–979+ fatalities:
429–673 fatalities[14] (Uppsala data 2005–09, 2011)
669–979 casualties (2004–15, see below)

Following massive clashes in summer 2011, a cease-fire was declared between the parties, with Iran claiming victory and PJAK allegedly ending all armed operations as of 29 September 2011. Since then, several violent incidents have occurred, including the December 2011 Baneh clash and another clash in April 2012. In 2013, the confrontations became more frequent, including clashes in May, the August 2013 Sardasht clash and more events in October. The heavy 2016 West Iran clashes took place on 19 April.

As with the PKK, PJAK leaders say their long-term goals are to establish an autonomous Kurdish region within the Iranian state.[16] It is mainly focused on replacing Iran's current form of government with a democratic and federal government.[17]

Background edit

Main articles: 1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran and KDPI insurgency (1990s)

Since the Iranian Revolution, there has been an ongoing conflict between Iran's central government and Kurdish political movements rooted in the predominantly Kurdish region of western Iran.[18] The level of violence has ebbed and flowed with peaks of serious conflict in 1979, the early eighties and the early nineties.[18]

Kurdish casualties are estimated by the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) at more than 30,000 civilian dead in addition to 4,000 Kurdish fighters.[18] Along with the dead, there have been tens of thousands of people imprisoned; hundreds of villages destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people displaced.[18] The local economy of an already under-developed region has been severely damaged by the conflict, as of course has the Iranian economy as a whole.[18]

Founding of PJAK edit

 
PJAK fighters in 2012 (VOA image)

The exact history of PJAK is widely disputed.[13] Turkey and Iran claim that PJAK is no more than an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).[13] According to some sources, members of the PKK founded the PJAK in 2004 as an Iranian equivalent to their leftist-nationalist insurgency against the Turkish government.[19]

According to founding members of PJAK, however, the group began in Iran around 1997 as an entirely peaceful student-based human rights movement.[13] The group was inspired by the success of Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region and by the PKK's struggle in Turkey.[13] Discouraged by the failure of previous Kurdish revolts, however, PJAK's leaders initially worked only to maintain and build a Kurdish national identity.[13] After a series of government crackdowns against Kurdish activists and intellectuals, the group's leadership moved to the safety of Iraqi Kurdistan in 1999.[13] There they settled in the area controlled by the PKK on the slopes of Mount Qandil—less than 16 kilometres (10 mi) from the Iranian border.[13] Once established at Qandil and operating under the PKK's security umbrella, PJAK adopted many of the political ideas and military strategies of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, whose theories had initially inspired PJAK's founders while still in Iran.[13] The PKK's ideological influence also transformed PJAK from a civil rights movement to a more ambitious and multi-directional independence movement, aided by the transfer of many seasoned PKK fighters of Iranian origin into PJAK.[13]

Abductions of Iranian security forces edit

PJAK's leaders have twice kidnapped groups of Iranian soldiers in 2003 and 2004.[13] In both instances Iranian soldiers were released unharmed after being tried and acquitted for crimes against the Kurdish people by ad hoc PJAK courts in Iranian Kurdistan.[13]

Timeline edit

2004 edit

The PJAK group's first armed attack took place in 2004 in the area of the city of Marivan in Kurdistan province, after Iranian security forces fired on a protestors killing 10 people.[13]

2005 edit

In July 2005, massive three-week long riots in North-West Iran, met by massive security response, left some 20 Kurds dead and 300 wounded.[20] The protests erupted following the killing of an activist by Iranian security forces in the city of Mahabad on July 9.[20][21] More riots followed in October 2005.[21]

According to Kurdish sources, as many as 100,000 state security forces backed by helicopters, moved into the region to crack down on the demonstrations.[20] The Kurdistan Democratic party of Iran urged "international organizations, human-rights supporters and the international community to make efforts to stop the bloodshed of the people by the Islamic regime of Iran".[20] Hussein Yazdanpanah, the general secretary of the Revolutionary Union of Kurdistan, who was at the time in exile in the city of Irbil, also criticized the crackdown.[20] That year, the PJAK began widescale engagements with Iranian security forces in the Marivan region.[21]

Istanbul's Cihan News Agency claimed that over 100 members of the Iranian security forces were killed by PJAK during 2005.[22]

2006 edit

In February 2006, 10 protestors were killed by police in the city of Maku.[13] PJAK responded with three attacks against two Iranian bases.[13] In retaliation, PJAK claims to have killed 24 members of Iranian security forces in a raid on April 3, 2006.[23] On April 10, 2006, seven PJAK members were arrested in Iran, on suspicion that they killed three Iranian security force personnel. Shortly afterward, on April 21, and again a week later, Iranian troops fired nearly 100 artillery shells at PJAK positions near Mount Qandil and briefly crossed the Iraqi border, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense.[13]

PJAK set off a bomb on 8 May 2006 in the city of Kermanshah, wounding five people at a government building.[24] Following this, the Iranian military retaliated with bombardments on suspected PJAK positions in US-occupied Iraq along the Iranian border. A number of civilians died as a result.[25] The PKK's Roj TV claimed that PJAK troops killed four Iranian soldiers on May 27, in a clash near the town of Maku in Iranian Kurdistan.[13]

The September 2006 Sardasht incident (an Iran–Iraq cross-border raid) was a military operation which took place on Iran–Iraqi Kurdistan border, in which at least 30 Kurdish militants of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) were allegedly killed and 40 injured by Iranian security forces.[26] Following the clash, a PJAK spokesman inside Iraq declared an immediate, unilateral ceasefire.[26] Senior Iranian military spokesman Hamid Ahmadi rejected the call, saying: "A ceasefire with a terrorist group doesn't make any sense".[26] The fighting came a week after the Revolutionary Guards announced a new military offensive against PJAK, or the Free Life party of Kurdistan, with the intention of driving them from their positions in Iran.[26]

On September 28, 2006, Iran said that two members of the PKK blew up a gas pipeline to Turkey near the town of Bazargan in West Azerbaijan province.[27]

2007 edit

On February 24, 2007 an Iranian helicopter crashed near the town of Khoy, killing 13 soldiers, including several members of the elite Revolutionary Guards and Said Qahari, the head of the Iranian army's 3rd Corps. PJAK quickly claimed to have shot down the helicopter using a shoulder-launched missile, killing 20 soldiers, including several senior officers, during an hour-long battle. Iran, however, blamed the crash on bad weather. After that, Iran launched a counter-offensive against the group in the northeast of Iran's West Azerbaijan province, near the Turkish border. According to Iran's state news agencies as many as 47 Kurdish rebels and 17 Iranian soldiers were killed in the violence between February 25 and March 1, 2007.[27]

In August 2007, PJAK claimed it managed to down another Iranian military helicopter that was conducting a forward operation of bombardment by Iranian forces.[28]

According to Kurdish officials, Iranian troops raided northern Iraq on August 23, 2007, inspecting several villages suspected of being PJAK strongholds.[29]

2008 edit

The Iranian news agency IRNA reported on October 11, 2008 that members of the paramilitary Basij units killed four PJAK militants in a clash close to the Iraqi border.[30]

In August 2008, under Iranian pressure, one of Iraqi Kurdistan's ruling parties, the PUK, launched an offensive against PJAK forces. KDP-leader and President of Iraqi Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani condemned PJAK operations against Iran multiple times.[31]

2009 edit

On April 24, 2009, PJAK rebels attacked a police station in Kermanshah province. According to updated reports 18 policemen and 8 militants were killed in a fierce gun battle.[32] According to Iranian government sources, the attack resulted in 10 policemen and 10 militants being killed.[32] According to the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research, the attack, which occurred on April 24 and 25, involved PJAK attacks on two police stations in the cities of Ravansar in Northern Kermanshah province and in Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan province, killing eleven police officers, with more than ten PJAK militants reportedly killed.[33]

Iran responded a week later by attacking PJAK positions along the border area of Panjwin inside Iraq using helicopters. According to Iraqi border guards officials, the area attacked by Iran was not considered a stronghold of PJAK, that appeared to have been the target of the raid. According to the ICRC, more than 800 Iraqi Kurds have been forced from their homes by the recent cross-border violence.[34]

2010 edit

In 2010, PJAK claimed responsibility for the deaths of 3 Revolutionary Guard soldiers in Khoy. Earlier in the year Iranian police arrested a suspect in the killing of a prosecutor in the same region during clashes with "Kurdish militants."[citation needed]

On 13 May 2010, Iraqi and Iranian border guards exchanged gunfire near the border village of Shamiran, after the Iranians mistook the Iraqis for members of PJAK. It was the first major incident between the two since December 2009, when Iran took control of a disputed oil well. The gunfight lasted 90 minutes and an Iraqi officer was captured.[35]

2011 edit

On March 24, two Iranian police officers were killed and three others injured in two attacks in the city of Sanandaj in Kurdistan Province and on April 1 four border guards were killed and three others were wounded in an attack against a police station near the city of Marivan.[citation needed] On April 4, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said the perpetrators of the previous attacks in Sanandaj were killed.[citation needed]

Two militants affiliated to PJAK were reported to have been killed and another wounded by the IRIB TV website on June 19, 2011, in Iran's northwestern town of Chaldran in West Azerbaijan province.[36]

On 16 July 2011 the Iranian army launched a major offensive against PJAK compounds in the mountainous regions of northern Iraq. On July 17, the Revolutionary Guard killed at least five PJAK members and captured one named Saman Naseem,[37] in a raid that destroyed one of the group's headquarters in northwestern Iran. PJAK claimed 21 Iranian soldiers were killed in the clashes.[38][39] Iranian authorities on the other hand confirmed their casualties at 1 killed and 3 injured while claiming to have inflicted "heavy losses" on the militants.[40] They announced that they had captured three militant bases, one of which was identified as Marvan and was said to be the leading PJAK camp in the region.[41] PJAK militants claimed that they only lost two fighters during the attack carried out by the Iranian forces.[42]

On July 20, PJAK killed 5 Revolutionary Guard members and one commander[43] while Revolutionary Guard forces killed 35 PJAK fighters and captured several others during clashes on July 25.[citation needed] By July 26, more than 50 PJAK fighters and 8 Revolutionary Guards had been killed,[44] and at least 100 PJAK fighters had been wounded according to Iranian sources,[45] while over 800 people had been displaced by the fighting.[46][verification needed] At least 3 civilians were killed.[47] During clashes in the Jasosan and Alotan heights the next day, Iranian forces claimed to have killed over 21 PJAK fighters, confirming that two Revolutionary Guards had been killed and two had been injured during the clashes.[citation needed]

On July 29, suspected PJAK militants blew up the Iran-Turkey gas pipeline, which was repaired the next day. On August 1, Iranian forces killed 3 and arrested 4 of the militants said to be responsible for the attack, at least one of which was a Turkish citizen.[48]

On August 5, the leader of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), Rahman Haj Ahmedi, claimed that more than 300 Iranian Revolutionary Guards had been killed in a series of ambushes, while acknowledging 16 loses.[49] Iranian officials however, claimed to have killed over 150 PJAK forces during the operations,[50] confirming the deaths of only 17 Revolutionary Guards.[51]

On August 8, 2011, Abdul Rahman Haji Ahmadi, the leader of PJAK, said the armed militant group is prepared to negotiate with Iran and maintained that Kurdish issues need to be solved through "peaceful means". In an exclusive interview with Rudaw, Haji Ahmadi acknowledged that in some cases compromise is inevitable and indicated that PJAK is willing to lay down its arms. He said fighting may not help Kurds secure "political and cultural rights" in Iran.[52]

On August 8, 2011, Murat Karayılan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) said they withdrew all PJAK fighters out of Iran and sent them to PKK camps in the Qandil mountains. He said they replaced PJAK forces on the Iranian border with PKK forces to prevent further clashes and called on Iran to end attacks because unlike the PJAK, the PKK was not at war with Iran.[53] Karayılan released the following statement: "As the PKK, we have not declared any war against Iran. We do not wish to fight against the Islamic Republic of Iran either. Why? Because one of the aims of the international forces who seek to re-design the region is to besiege Iran. Currently, they are more preoccupied with Syria. If they just manage to work things out there as they wish, it will be Iran's turn next. As Kurds, we do not think it quite right to be involved in a war with Iran at such a stage. You have no interest in targeting the PKK. ... You must end this conflict. It is America that wants this conflict to go on. Because these attacks of yours serve America's interests. They want both the PKK and Iran to grow weaker."[54]

On September 5, 2011, the Revolutionary Guard rejected the cease-fire declared by PJAK as "meaningless", as long as PJAK forces remained on the borders of the Islamic Republic. Iran also said its troops had killed 30 PJAK fighters and wounded 40 in several days of fighting.[55][56]

The battle ended inconclusively and on September 12, the cease fire was restored.[7] Iranian officials claimed to have captured three PJAK camps and to have destroyed PJAK's military capability. The organization dismissed this, asserting that its fighters had defeated an Iranian attempt to seize the Qandil area.[7]

On September 29, 2011, Iranian sources reported PJAK had officially surrendered after 180 deaths and 300 injured.[57] According to another Iranian source, Iranian ambassador to Iraq Hassan Danaei-Far declared that they had cleared all areas of PJAK activities and that they had reached an agreement with the Iraqi central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, in which they vowed to keep the border peaceful.[58] According to Fars news, Revolutionary Guard commander General Abdollah Araqi declared that the conflict had ended after PJAK had accepted Iran's terms and withdrawn all its forces from Iranian soil.[6]

In late October 2011, President of Iraqi Kurdistan Massoud Barzani said in a visit to Tehran that an agreement had been reached between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the PJAK, in which the PJAK had agreed to end its armed activities in the region and that the borders between Iran and the Kurdistan Region would now be safe.[59]

On December 28, 2011, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps clashed with PJAK forces in Baneh in northwest Iran.[60][61] PJAK reported that it was attacked by Iranian government forces, which led to the death of nine government officials; PJAK says it sustained no casualties.[61] The Fars news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guard, confirmed that a member of Basij, an IRGC sub-group, was killed in the conflict, adding that several PJAK members were wounded.[61]

2012 edit

On early January, "Gloria Center" of the IDC published that despite the claims of the Iranians to have destroyed PJAK, the organization has survived the assault.[7] PJAK was reported to be engaged in the construction of new defensive positions close to the border.[7] On January 4, it was reported that the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) of Iran said Islamic Republic forces have violated the terms of the ceasefire between the two sides,[61] relating to the Baneh clash, a week earlier.

On April 25, 2012, in a clash near Paveh, in Kermanshah province of Iran, 4 IRGC officers were killed and 4 others wounded. Casualties were also inflicted to PJAK, but there were no estimations available.[62][63]

2013 edit

During February 2013, 3 Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers died in separate clashes with PJAK.[64][verification needed] There were also two clashes between the PJAK and the IRGC in mid-April near areas along the border with Turkey.[65]

A number of clashes between PJAK and Revolutionary Guard took place also in May 2013, with at least 2 Iranian soldiers killed.[66]

On June 6, 2013, Yusuf Hamzelu, a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, was killed near the northwestern border of Iran, according to Iran's Mehr News Agency.[65] He was buried in Zandan on June 10. The Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), PKK's Iranian branch, denied the news report in a media release and actually accused Iran of hiding the fact that the Iranian soldier was killed by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in Syria.[65]

On early August, the Iran-based Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) announced that it is "ready to send fighters to Syrian Kurdistan to fight beside their people."[67]

On August 14, 4 Revolutionary Guardsmen were killed and 3 wounded during mine dismantlement in Kurdistan province.[68]

On August 19, a battle erupted in the Sardasht border area between Revolutionary Guard and PJAK, in which PJAK claimed to kill 7 Iranian soldiers and lose 2 fighters; Iran didn't comment on the event.

On October 10, 5[69] IRGC members were killed in Kurdistan province.

During October, 9 civilian casualties were reported from Revolutionary Guard fire in Iranian Kurdistan province.[70] Also during October, 2 PJAK members were executed.[71] Following the hanging of the two militants on October 25, some protests took place outside the Iranian consulate in Erbil, as well as in Iraqi Kurdistan.[72]

On October 31, 1 Iranian border guard killed by militants.[73]

2014 edit

In June 2014, Iranian forces claimed to clash PJAK militants and killing at least 2 of them.[citation needed]

2015 edit

In February 2015, Iran executed an individual accused of being a PJAK member.[74]

On 20 May 2015, PJAK guerrillas killed an IRGC soldier in Marivan county, after a counter insurgency operation.[75]

In August 2015, PJAK claimed killing 33 Iranian soldiers in two separate incidents[76] with Iran confirming only five casualties.[77]

Warfare tactics edit

PJAK has adopted hit-and-run assault tactics against Iranian forces, carrying them out with small arms and grenades.[13] Following their attacks, PJAK militants often cross back into Iraq and into the regions of Iraqi Kurdistan.[13] This tactic is often responsible for subsequent Iranian retaliation that results in civilian casualties, as it leads Iranian forces to mistake civilian villages with PJAK outposts and bases. PJAK is believed to have some heavier weaponry in its Mount Qandil camp such as RPGs and heavy machine-guns.[13]

Foreign involvement edit

Iranian and Turkish authorities allegations edit

Iran has accused the PJAK group of operating as a proxy of hostile foreign intelligence services, namely the intelligence services of the United States, as well as those operated by Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom.[78] Moreover, Turkish authorities have made allegations on links between PJAK and the United States.[79]

Turkey has had cooperations with Iran to fight PKK and PJAK through Iran–Turkey High Security Commission.[80] Both Iran and Turkey perceive PJAK as a threat and putting them through great challenges.[81]

According to the Jamestown Foundation's July 2006 Terrorism Monitor, PJAK's military operations are believed to be funded by Kurdish immigrant communities in Europe and Kurdish businessmen in Iran.[13]

According to Aljazeera, Turkey's minister of interior has said that Turkey and Iran will conduct a joint operation to tackle the Kurdish activists. However, the minister did not disclose the time and location of the intended operation.[82]

Despite the supposed cooperation between Turkey and Iran, Turkey has accused Iran and its ally Syria of backing the PKK.[83]

Alleged Israeli involvement edit

Israel's relations with Kurds is traced back to the implementation of its "alliance of the periphery".[78] It is commented that Israel and the Iranian Kurdish insurgent organizations have a common interest in weakening the Government of Islamic Republic of Iran.[84]

In November 2006, journalist Seymour Hersh writing in The New Yorker, supported foreign involvement, stating that the US military and the Israelis are giving the group equipment, training, and targeting information in order to cause destruction in Iran.[85]

A "security source in Baghdad" has told Georges Malbrunot of Le Figaro in 2012 that Mossad agents are actively recruiting Iranian Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan and training them in spy-craft and sabotage.[86] Also, "a government consultant with ties to the Pentagon" has confirmed that Israel has provided PJAK with "equipment and training" to carry out attacks against targets within Iran, according to Institute for Policy Studies.[87]

The U.S. and Israeli involvement is also acknowledged by several scholars, including Nader Entessar of University of South Alabama,[88] Suleyman Elik of Istanbul Medeniyet University[80] and Dilshod Achilov of East Tennessee State University.[89]

In a book published by Routledge in 2016, co-authors Robert Scheer and Reese Erlich write "[T]he Israelis are also helping train PJAK for its armed forays into Iran. But given the sentiment among Arabs and Muslims, the Israeli government tries to keep its activities quite".[90] Phyllis Bennis also cites Israeli support.[91]

However, PJAK has denied any relations with Israel.[92]

United States relations with PJAK edit

See also: Iran Freedom and Support Act
 
Wikinews has related news:
  • Kucinich asks Bush about alleged US support for armed insurgency in Iran

Despite condemning PKK attacks against Turkey,[91] the US government is said to be supporting PJAK.[85][91] In early 2006, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought US$75 million in extra to fund "anti-government propaganda and opposition groups inside Iran".[80]

On April 18, 2006, Congressman Dennis Kucinich sent a letter to President George W. Bush in which he expressed his judgment that the U.S. is likely to be supporting and coordinating PJAK, since PJAK operates and is based in Iraqi territory, which is under the control of the U.S. supported Kurdistan Regional Government.[93]

In an April 2009 interview with Turkish daily Akşam, former Chair of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board (2001–2005) Brent Scowcroft admitted that the United States "supported and encouraged" PJAK against Iran during Presidency of George W. Bush but Obama administration has ended this policy.[79] On 4 February 2009, United States Department of the Treasury designated PJAK as a terrorist organization.[94] Moreover, the former PJAK leader Haji Ahmadi has accused the US of fighting the Kurdish rebels alongside Turkey and Iran.[92]

PJAK statements edit

In an interview with Slate magazine in June 2006, PJAK spokesman Ihsan Warya was paraphrased as stating that he "nevertheless points out that PJAK really does wish it were an agent of the United States, and that [PJAK is] disappointed that Washington hasn't made contact." The Slate article continues stating that the PJAK wishes to be supported by and work with the United States in overthrowing the government of Iran in a similar way to the US eventually cooperated with Kurdish organisations in Iraq in overthrowing the government of Iraq during the most recent Iraq War.[95]

One of the top officials in the PKK made a statement in late 2006, that "If the US is interested in PJAK, then it has to be interested in the PKK as well" referring to the alliance between the two groups and their memberships in the Kurdistan Democratic Confederation (KCK).[96]

In August 2007, Haji Ahmadi, the leader of PJAK visited Washington, DC in order to seek more open support from the US both politically and militarily,[97] but it was later said that he only made limited contacts with officials in Washington.[25] Biryar Gabar, a PJAK commander from Sanandaj told Newsweek that Haji Ahmadi's meeting was with the "high-level officials" and they have discussed "future of Iran". Washington has downplayed the event.[88] Ahmadi, however, denied later any relations with the US and accused them of cooperating with Turkey and Iran.

In 2018, the PJAK suggested creating a coalition of Kurdish groups resisting the Iranian regime according to the Jerusalem Post.[98]

Casualties edit

Uppsala count edit

The Uppsala Conflict Data Program recorded 434 fatalities (ranging from 429 to 673) in the Iran–PJAK conflict from 2005 until 2011. These figures however do not include casualties from the year 2010.[14]

Year Low estimate Best estimate High estimate
2005 28 28 37
2006 26 31 68
2007 47 47 94
2008 42 42 178
2009 67 67 67
2010 - - -
2011 219 219 229
Total: 429 434 673

Secondary source reports summary edit

According to numerous news reports from 2004 to present, casualties range between 669 and 979; these figures are a mix of PJAK claims, Iranian government claims and third party analysis.

2004 casualties: 10+ killed

  • 2004 clashes – 10 Kurdish demonstrators killed, unknown number of Iranian security forces killed in retaliation by PJAK (first PJAK armed attack).[13]

2005 casualties: 100–120 killed During 2005, some 100–120[13] Iranian security forces killed, according to PJAK claims; unknown PJAK casualties. According to Elling, 120 Iranian soldiers were killed in the conflict in 2005.[99]

2006 casualties: 80–120+[99] killed

  • February 2006 Maku demonstrations – 10 protesters killed.[13]
  • April 2006 Iran raids by PJAK – 26 killed.[citation needed]
  • April 2006 Iraq raids by Iran – 10 militants killed.[13]
  • May 2006 Kermanshah bombing – five wounded.[citation needed]
  • 27 May 2006 – 4 Iranian security forces killed in a clash near Mako.[13]
  • September 2006 Sardasht incident – 30+ PJAK killed and 40 injured, unknown Iranian casualties (Iranian claim).[26]

2007 casualties: 102–114+ killed

2008 casualties: 28–100 killed

  • 25 May-2 June clashes – 8[100] PJAK militants killed; 92 Iranian soldiers and para-militaries killed (PJAK claim).[100] 21 PJAK and 7 Revolutionary Guards killed (Iranian claim)[101]

2009 casualties: 20–26 killed

  • Ravansar and Sanandaj police station attacks (2009) – 20–26 killed.[citation needed]

2010 casualties: 45 killed

2011 casualties: 223–344 killed

2012 casualties: 4–8 killed

  • April 25, 2012 – in Paveh (Kermanshah province), 4 Revolutionary Guards officers were killed and 4 others wounded; unknown casualties to PJAK.[62][63]

2013 casualties: 44 killed and executed.

  • February 2013 – 3 Revolutionary Guards killed in an incident.[102]
  • 19 May 2013 – 2 Iranian soldiers killed (Iranian statement).[103]
  • August 14 – 4 Revolutionary Guards killed and 3 wounded during mine dismantlement in Kurdistan province.[104]
  • 19 August 2013 – 7 Iranian soldiers and two PJAK militants killed in Sardash border clash (PJAK claim).[105]
  • October 10 – 5 Revolutionary Guards killed in Kurdistan province.[106]
October – 9 civilian casualties from IRGC fire.[70]
October 27 – 3 PJAK killed, 3 captured.[citation needed]
October – 2 PJAK members executed.[71]
October 31 – 1 Iranian border guard killed by rebels.[73]

2014 casualties: 5–6+ killed

January 4 – 1 civilian killed.[107]
June 21 – 2+ PJAK killed.[citation needed]

2015 casualties: 8–42+ killed [note 1]

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ See [75][108][109][110]

References edit

  1. ^ "Iran denies joint raid with Turkey against Kurdish rebels". The Times of Israel.
  2. ^ "Iranian Kurdish PJAK rebels deny ties to Israel".
  3. ^ Namo Abdulla (13 May 2020). "Activists: Iraq's Kurdish Region Becomes Less Safe for Iranian Dissidents". VOA. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  4. ^ Paul Bucala; Shayan Enferadi. "Iran's Kurdish Insurgency". Critical Threats. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Why Iranian Kurdish party is stepping up fight against Tehran". Al-Monitor. 1 July 2016. from the original on 24 December 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  6. ^ a b . Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  7. ^ a b c d e . Archived from the original on 3 January 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  8. ^ . Archived from the original on 2016-01-25. Retrieved 2011-10-18.
  9. ^ "Iran, Turkey share intel on PKK, PJAK". UPI.com. 2010-07-30. from the original on 2010-08-05. Retrieved 2011-04-15.
  10. ^ Wood, Graeme (2006-06-12). "Meet the Kurdish guerrillas who want to topple the Tehran regime". Slate. from the original on 2009-07-23. Retrieved 2011-04-15.
  11. ^ Henry, Derek. "The Jamestown Foundation: Between the Hammer and the Anvil: An Exclusive Interview with PJAK's Agiri Rojhilat". Jamestown. Jamestown Foundation. from the original on 2012-09-05. Retrieved 2011-04-15.
  12. ^ Oppel Jr, Richard A. (October 23, 2007). "In Iraq, Conflict Simmers on a 2nd Kurdish Front". The New York Times. from the original on July 25, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z "Iran's Kurdish Threat: PJAK". The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  14. ^ a b . Archived from the original on 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2012-10-21.
  15. ^ "BBCPersian.com". Bbc.co.uk. from the original on 2007-09-05. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  16. ^ Partlow, Joshua (12 September 2007). "Shelling Near Iranian Border Is Forcing Iraqi Kurds to Flee - washingtonpost.com". The Washington Post. from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  17. ^ . Terrorism Monitor. 4 (12). Jamestown Foundation. 15 June 2006. Archived from the original on October 11, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  18. ^ a b c d e Hicks, Neil. The human rights of Kurds in the Islamic Republic of Iran, April 2000. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2011-10-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. ^ . Janes.com. Archived from the original on October 10, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  20. ^ a b c d e "Iran sends in troops to crush border unrest". TheGuardian.com. 4 August 2005. from the original on 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  21. ^ a b c Gunter, M.M. The Kurds Ascending: The Evolving Solution to the Kurdish Problem in Iraq, p. 134. Springer. 2016.
  22. ^ Iran Arrests 7 PKK Terrorists 2011-06-05 at the Wayback Machine, April 10, 2006, Cihan News Agency/zaman.com
  23. ^ Tehran faces growing Kurdish opposition 2006-10-14 at the Wayback Machine, James Brandon, The Washington Times, April 3, 2006
  24. ^ . Archived from the original on December 11, 2008.
  25. ^ a b "Trouble on the Iran-Iraq Border - Newsweek: World News - MSNBC.com". Msnbc.msn.com. September 13, 2007. Retrieved 2008-11-10. [dead link]
  26. ^ a b c d e Batty, David (5 September 2011). "Iranian forces kill Kurdish rebels near Iraq border". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  27. ^ a b "PJAK Claims Fresh Attacks in Iran". Jamestown.org. Archived from the original on 2007-06-25. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  28. ^ . October 11, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11.
  29. ^ . Mcclatchydc.com. Archived from the original on 2009-07-03. Retrieved 2011-04-15.
  30. ^ "Four Kurdish rebels killed in western Iran - IRNA". Hurriyet.com.tr. 11 October 2008. from the original on 2011-05-22. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  31. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2011-07-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  32. ^ a b Death toll 26 in battle with rebels 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, Gulf Times, May 2009.
  33. ^ Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research, Conflict Barometer 2009. [1] 2011-10-18 at the Wayback Machine
  34. ^ Iran helicopters strike Iraq Kurd villages 2009-05-18 at the Wayback Machine, AFP, May 2009.
  35. ^ Alawsat, Asharq (14 May 2010). . Archived from the original on 7 July 2011.
  36. ^ "Two Kurdish PJAK rebels killed in Iranian Kurdistan: TV". from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  37. ^ Amnesty International (13 February 2015). "Iran: juvenile offender to be executed in a week gives harrowing torture account". from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  38. ^ "Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces kill 5 Kurdish rebels in raid near Iraqi border". Winnipeg Free Press. The Associated Press.
  39. ^ . Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  40. ^ (AFP). "Iraq, Iran issue border demands after clashes - Khaleej Times". from the original on 2012-10-01. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  41. ^ "Iran captures Kurdish bases in first Iraq offensive since 1980-88 war". from the original on 22 August 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  42. ^ "Iranian troops attack Kurdish PJAK rebel bases in Iraq". BBC News. 18 July 2011.
  43. ^ . Archived from the original on 2011-05-30. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  44. ^ . Archived from the original on July 30, 2011.
  45. ^ "Giris icin Tiklayiniz". Retrieved 26 January 2015. [permanent dead link]
  46. ^ . Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  47. ^ "THE DAILY STAR :: News :: Middle East :: Iran shelling of Kurd separatist rebels displaces over 200 families". from the original on 2011-08-24. Retrieved 2011-08-04.
  48. ^ "Iran kills, arrests people linked to gas pipeline blast". Reuters. August 1, 2011. from the original on November 24, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  49. ^ . Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2011-08-05.
  50. ^ . Archived from the original on 2012-11-08. Retrieved 2011-08-15.
  51. ^ "Iran says PJAK surrender imminent". Payvand. from the original on 8 December 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  52. ^ . Archived from the original on 2012-04-12. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
  53. ^ . SundaysZaman. October 3, 2021. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011.
  54. ^ "Why would Iran capture Karayılan?". Hurriyet Daily News. from the original on 8 September 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  55. ^ "Iran rejects PJAK's cease-fire, demands withdrawal". The Jerusalem Post. from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  56. ^ http://pukmedia.com/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9308:pjaks-ceasefire-awaits-irans-response&catid=30:kurdistan&Itemid=388 [permanent dead link]
  57. ^ "پژاک با 180 کشته و 300 زخمی تسلیم شد". from the original on 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
  58. ^ . Archived from the original on 2011-10-08. Retrieved 2011-10-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  59. ^ [dead link]"Safer border following agreement with PJAK - Barzani". Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  60. ^ "IRGC forces fight with Kurdish group - Radio Zamaneh: Independent Media, Debate and E-learning for Iran". from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  61. ^ a b c d "PJAK says Iran has violated ceasefire". Payvand. from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  62. ^ a b "Kurdish PJAK rebels kill four Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards". from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  63. ^ a b "Iranian forces in conflict with PJAK - Radio Zamaneh: Independent Media, Debate and E-learning for Iran". from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  64. ^ . خبرگزاری فارس. February 20, 2013. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013.
  65. ^ a b c "Al-Monitor. "Iranian Kurdish Struggle Linked to Turkey, Syria"". 14 June 2013. from the original on 2014-04-08. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  66. ^ "Sardasht-ag.ir". from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  67. ^ "Iraqi Kurdish Leader Threatens Syria Intervention". Arutz Sheva. 10 August 2013. from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  68. ^ "Land mines kill guards in Kurdistan". Radio Zamaneh. 2013-08-14. from the original on 2013-10-22. Retrieved 2014-01-02.
  69. ^ . Xinhua News Agency. 11 October 2013. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  70. ^ a b "Iran's Islamic revolutionary guard corps IRGC killed two Kurdish civilians". Ekurd.net. from the original on 2013-10-22. Retrieved 2014-01-02.
  71. ^ a b Hudson, Alexandra (November 2013). "Iranian Kurd leader says West shouldn't be fooled by Rouhani". Reuters. from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  72. ^ "Across the Zagros: Iranian influence in Iraqi Kurdistan". TheGuardian.com. 21 November 2013.
  73. ^ a b . Archived from the original on 20 November 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  74. ^ . France 24. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  75. ^ a b . Kurdische Nachrichten. 23 May 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-12-16. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  76. ^ "PJAK strikes Iranian military guard post, kills 20". DailySabah. 7 August 2015. from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  77. ^ "Iranian Kurdish Party says killed 12 Revolutionary Guards in attack". The Jerusalem Post. from the original on 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
  78. ^ a b Zambelis, Chris (1 March 2011). "The Factors Behind Rebellion in Iranian Kurdistan". CTC Sentinel. 4 (3). Combating Terrorism Center. from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  79. ^ a b İhsan Bal, M. Turgut Demirtepe. "USAK Yearbook of Politics and International Relations". Vol. 5. International Strategic Research Organization (USAK). 2012. p. 43. ISBN 6054030698.
  80. ^ a b c Elik, Suleyman. Iran–Turkey Relations, 1979–2011: Conceptualising the Dynamics of Politics, Religion and Security in Middle-Power States. Routledge. 2013. pp. 91–92.
  81. ^ "The PKK, PJAK, and Iran: Implications for U.S.-Turkish Relations". The Washington Institute.
  82. ^ "Turkey, Iran to target Kurd rebels together: Minister". www.aljazeera.com.
  83. ^ "Syria and Iran 'backing Kurdish terrorist group', says Turkey".
  84. ^ Ofra Bengio (18 March 2016). "Israel and the Kurds: Love by Proxy". The American Interest. from the original on 2 October 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  85. ^ a b Hersh, Seymour M. (November 20, 2006). . The New Yorker. Archived from the original on November 23, 2006. Retrieved November 19, 2006.
  86. ^ Georges Malbrunot (9 January 2012). "L'Iran défie l'Amérique". Le Figaro (in French). from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  87. ^ Giorgio Cafiero (24 January 2013). "The Dreams and Dilemmas of Iraqi Kurdistan". Foreign Policy In Focus. from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  88. ^ a b Entessar, Nader. "Kurdish Politics in Regional Context". In Kurdish Politics in the Middle East. Rowman & Littlefield, 2010. p. 205. ISBN 0739140396, 9780739140390
  89. ^ Palash Ghosh (17 January 2012). "Iranian Nuclear Scientists: Is Israel Behind the Assassinations?". International Business Times. from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  90. ^ Reese Erlich, Robert Scheer (2016). Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis. Routledge. p. 140. ISBN 978-1317257370.
  91. ^ a b c Phyllis Bennis (2009). Ending the Iraq War: A Primer. Olive Branch Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-1566567176. PJAK is made up of Iranian Kurds whose members attack Iran rather than Turkey, but who are also based in the Kurdish region of Iraq. Israel supports PJAK's anti-Iran mobilization. The complication is that the US supports PJAK attacks in Iran, even while it condemns identical PKK attacks on Turkey.
  92. ^ a b "Iranian Kurdish PJAK rebels deny ties to Israel". ekurd.net. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  93. ^ Kucinich Questions the President On US Trained Insurgents In Iran: Sends Letter To President Bush 2006-05-25 at the Wayback Machine, Dennis Kucinich, April 18, 2006
  94. ^ "U.S. brands anti-Iran Kurdish group terrorist". Reuters. 4 February 2009. from the original on 11 November 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  95. ^ Wood, Graeme (June 12, 2006). "Iran Bombs Iraq: Meet the Kurdish guerrillas who want to topple the Tehran regime". Microsoft. from the original on March 11, 2007. Retrieved December 2, 2006.
  96. ^ "PKK commander says Washington 'has contact' with Kurdish rebels fighting Iran". Daily Star. from the original on 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  97. ^ "Kurdish leader seeks U.S. help to topple regime". The Washington Times. 4 August 2007. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  98. ^ "Three Kurdish groups in Iran are now fighting the IRGC". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com.
  99. ^ a b Elling, R. (18 February 2013). Minorities in Iran. ISBN 9781137047809. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  100. ^ a b "PJAK: 92 Iranian soldiers, officers and counter guerillas have been killed". from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  101. ^ "Preparing the Battlefield". The New Yorker. 7 July 2008. from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  102. ^ (in Persian) Fars News. [2] 2013-10-15 at the Wayback Machine
  103. ^ "Increased IRGC Forces Create Security State Atmosphere in Border Regions". International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. 23 May 2013. from the original on 2013-10-22. Retrieved 2013-10-12.
  104. ^ "Land mines kill guards in Kurdistan". Radio Zamaneh. from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  105. ^ "Kurd rebels claim to kill seven Iranian soldiers". 26 August 2013. from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  106. ^ . Xinhua. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  107. ^ Iranian Kurdistan News in brief 2016-01-25 at the Wayback Machine "On Saturday, January 4, Iranian security forces shot and killed a 26-year-old Kurdish man by the name of Saman Khzri in the town of Sardasht." Ekurd.net.
  108. ^ "PJAK strikes Iranian military guard post, kills 20". DailySabah. 7 August 2015. from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  109. ^ "Iranian Kurdish Party says killed 12 Revolutionary Guards in attack. Iranian media claims only five Guards were killed in the attack." [3] 2016-04-14 at the Wayback Machine
  110. ^ "Iran Executes Second Kurdish Activist this Month Despite International Outcry". 28 August 2015. from the original on 2016-12-04. Retrieved 2016-01-23.

External links edit

  • PJAK website (in Persian, Sorani and English)
  • Extract from article about Kurdish Iranian militants 28 June 2006

January 01, 1970
iran, pjak, conflict, armed, conflict, between, islamic, republic, iran, kurdish, rebels, kurdistan, free, life, party, pjak, which, began, 2004, group, carried, numerous, attacks, kurdistan, province, iran, provinces, western, iran, pjak, closely, affiliated,. The Iran PJAK conflict is an armed conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Kurdish rebels of the Kurdistan Free Life Party PJAK which began in 2004 The group has carried out numerous attacks in the Kurdistan Province of Iran and provinces of Western Iran PJAK is closely affiliated with the militant Kurdistan Workers Party PKK the primary opponent of the Republic of Turkey in the Kurdish Turkish conflict 15 PJAK has been designated as a terrorist organization by Iran Japan Turkey and the United States Iran PJAK conflictPart of Kurdish separatism in IranKurdish areas in Iran where the PJAK insurrection is concentrated 3 4 Date1 April 2004 presentLocationWest Azerbaijan Kurdistan and Kermanshah Provinces in Iran Kurdistan Region in Iraq and Agri Province in TurkeyStatusOngoing 5 failed verification dubious discuss First cease fire established in September 2011 as Iran s government claimed victory while PJAK allegedly withdrew from Iranian territory 6 PJAK redeploy their positions across the Iran Iraq border 7 Sporadic clashes take place in 2013 2015 A wider conflict erupts in 2016Belligerents IranSupported by Turkey allegedly denied by Iran 1 United States alleged by PJAK since 2009 2 Kurdistan Free Life Party PJAK Eastern Kurdistan Units YRK Women s Defence Forces HPJ Commanders and leadersCurrent Ali Khamenei 2004 present Mohammad Reza Gharaei Ashtiani 2021 present Ahmad Vahidi 2009 present Mohammad Bagheri 2016 present Abdolrahim Mousavi 2017 present Hossein Salami 2019 present Ahmad Reza Radan 2023 present Former Qassem Soleimani 2011 2020 Ali Shamkhani 2004 2005 Mostafa Mohammad Najjar 2005 2013 Hossein Dehghan 2013 2017 Amir Hatami 2017 2021 Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari 2004 2005 Mostafa Pourmohammadi 2005 19 May 2008 Seyyed Mehdi Hashemi 15 May 2008 5 August 2008 Ali Kordan 12 August 2008 4 November 2008 Kamran Daneshjoo 4 November 2008 24 December 2008 Sadegh Mahsouli 24 December 2008 2009 Hassan Firouzabadi 2004 2016 Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli 2017 2021 Mohammad Salimi 2004 2005 Ataollah Salehi 2005 2017 Yahya Rahim Safavi 2004 2007 Mohammed Ali Jafari 2007 2019 Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf 2004 2005 Ali Abdollahi 2005 Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam 2005 2015 Hossein Ashtari 2015 2023 Haji Ahmadi 2004 2011 Majid Kavian Murat Karasac Agiri Rojhilat Zanar AgriIhsan Warya Akif Zagros Gulistan Dugan Resit Ehkendi POW Strength15 000 according to PJAK 8 600 9 1 000 10 11 fighters 2 000 12 3 000 13 fighters according to PJAK Casualties and lossesPJAK claim539 KIA 536 Revolutionary Guard 3 police officers 1 helicopter shot down 2004 14 see below Iranian claim64 KIA Iran s statement263 KIA2 executed40 Kurdish civilians killed 2004 14 see below Total 669 979 fatalities 429 673 fatalities 14 Uppsala data 2005 09 2011 669 979 casualties 2004 15 see below Following massive clashes in summer 2011 a cease fire was declared between the parties with Iran claiming victory and PJAK allegedly ending all armed operations as of 29 September 2011 Since then several violent incidents have occurred including the December 2011 Baneh clash and another clash in April 2012 In 2013 the confrontations became more frequent including clashes in May the August 2013 Sardasht clash and more events in October The heavy 2016 West Iran clashes took place on 19 April As with the PKK PJAK leaders say their long term goals are to establish an autonomous Kurdish region within the Iranian state 16 It is mainly focused on replacing Iran s current form of government with a democratic and federal government 17 Contents 1 Background 1 1 Founding of PJAK 1 2 Abductions of Iranian security forces 2 Timeline 2 1 2004 2 2 2005 2 3 2006 2 4 2007 2 5 2008 2 6 2009 2 7 2010 2 8 2011 2 9 2012 2 10 2013 2 11 2014 2 12 2015 3 Warfare tactics 4 Foreign involvement 4 1 Iranian and Turkish authorities allegations 4 2 Alleged Israeli involvement 4 3 United States relations with PJAK 4 4 PJAK statements 5 Casualties 5 1 Uppsala count 5 2 Secondary source reports summary 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 External linksBackground editMain articles 1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran and KDPI insurgency 1990s Since the Iranian Revolution there has been an ongoing conflict between Iran s central government and Kurdish political movements rooted in the predominantly Kurdish region of western Iran 18 The level of violence has ebbed and flowed with peaks of serious conflict in 1979 the early eighties and the early nineties 18 Kurdish casualties are estimated by the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran KDPI at more than 30 000 civilian dead in addition to 4 000 Kurdish fighters 18 Along with the dead there have been tens of thousands of people imprisoned hundreds of villages destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people displaced 18 The local economy of an already under developed region has been severely damaged by the conflict as of course has the Iranian economy as a whole 18 Founding of PJAK edit nbsp PJAK fighters in 2012 VOA image The exact history of PJAK is widely disputed 13 Turkey and Iran claim that PJAK is no more than an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party PKK 13 According to some sources members of the PKK founded the PJAK in 2004 as an Iranian equivalent to their leftist nationalist insurgency against the Turkish government 19 According to founding members of PJAK however the group began in Iran around 1997 as an entirely peaceful student based human rights movement 13 The group was inspired by the success of Iraq s Kurdish autonomous region and by the PKK s struggle in Turkey 13 Discouraged by the failure of previous Kurdish revolts however PJAK s leaders initially worked only to maintain and build a Kurdish national identity 13 After a series of government crackdowns against Kurdish activists and intellectuals the group s leadership moved to the safety of Iraqi Kurdistan in 1999 13 There they settled in the area controlled by the PKK on the slopes of Mount Qandil less than 16 kilometres 10 mi from the Iranian border 13 Once established at Qandil and operating under the PKK s security umbrella PJAK adopted many of the political ideas and military strategies of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan whose theories had initially inspired PJAK s founders while still in Iran 13 The PKK s ideological influence also transformed PJAK from a civil rights movement to a more ambitious and multi directional independence movement aided by the transfer of many seasoned PKK fighters of Iranian origin into PJAK 13 Abductions of Iranian security forces edit PJAK s leaders have twice kidnapped groups of Iranian soldiers in 2003 and 2004 13 In both instances Iranian soldiers were released unharmed after being tried and acquitted for crimes against the Kurdish people by ad hoc PJAK courts in Iranian Kurdistan 13 Timeline edit2004 edit The PJAK group s first armed attack took place in 2004 in the area of the city of Marivan in Kurdistan province after Iranian security forces fired on a protestors killing 10 people 13 2005 edit In July 2005 massive three week long riots in North West Iran met by massive security response left some 20 Kurds dead and 300 wounded 20 The protests erupted following the killing of an activist by Iranian security forces in the city of Mahabad on July 9 20 21 More riots followed in October 2005 21 According to Kurdish sources as many as 100 000 state security forces backed by helicopters moved into the region to crack down on the demonstrations 20 The Kurdistan Democratic party of Iran urged international organizations human rights supporters and the international community to make efforts to stop the bloodshed of the people by the Islamic regime of Iran 20 Hussein Yazdanpanah the general secretary of the Revolutionary Union of Kurdistan who was at the time in exile in the city of Irbil also criticized the crackdown 20 That year the PJAK began widescale engagements with Iranian security forces in the Marivan region 21 Istanbul s Cihan News Agency claimed that over 100 members of the Iranian security forces were killed by PJAK during 2005 22 2006 edit In February 2006 10 protestors were killed by police in the city of Maku 13 PJAK responded with three attacks against two Iranian bases 13 In retaliation PJAK claims to have killed 24 members of Iranian security forces in a raid on April 3 2006 23 On April 10 2006 seven PJAK members were arrested in Iran on suspicion that they killed three Iranian security force personnel Shortly afterward on April 21 and again a week later Iranian troops fired nearly 100 artillery shells at PJAK positions near Mount Qandil and briefly crossed the Iraqi border according to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense 13 PJAK set off a bomb on 8 May 2006 in the city of Kermanshah wounding five people at a government building 24 Following this the Iranian military retaliated with bombardments on suspected PJAK positions in US occupied Iraq along the Iranian border A number of civilians died as a result 25 The PKK s Roj TV claimed that PJAK troops killed four Iranian soldiers on May 27 in a clash near the town of Maku in Iranian Kurdistan 13 The September 2006 Sardasht incident an Iran Iraq cross border raid was a military operation which took place on Iran Iraqi Kurdistan border in which at least 30 Kurdish militants of the Kurdistan Free Life Party PJAK were allegedly killed and 40 injured by Iranian security forces 26 Following the clash a PJAK spokesman inside Iraq declared an immediate unilateral ceasefire 26 Senior Iranian military spokesman Hamid Ahmadi rejected the call saying A ceasefire with a terrorist group doesn t make any sense 26 The fighting came a week after the Revolutionary Guards announced a new military offensive against PJAK or the Free Life party of Kurdistan with the intention of driving them from their positions in Iran 26 On September 28 2006 Iran said that two members of the PKK blew up a gas pipeline to Turkey near the town of Bazargan in West Azerbaijan province 27 2007 edit On February 24 2007 an Iranian helicopter crashed near the town of Khoy killing 13 soldiers including several members of the elite Revolutionary Guards and Said Qahari the head of the Iranian army s 3rd Corps PJAK quickly claimed to have shot down the helicopter using a shoulder launched missile killing 20 soldiers including several senior officers during an hour long battle Iran however blamed the crash on bad weather After that Iran launched a counter offensive against the group in the northeast of Iran s West Azerbaijan province near the Turkish border According to Iran s state news agencies as many as 47 Kurdish rebels and 17 Iranian soldiers were killed in the violence between February 25 and March 1 2007 27 In August 2007 PJAK claimed it managed to down another Iranian military helicopter that was conducting a forward operation of bombardment by Iranian forces 28 According to Kurdish officials Iranian troops raided northern Iraq on August 23 2007 inspecting several villages suspected of being PJAK strongholds 29 2008 edit The Iranian news agency IRNA reported on October 11 2008 that members of the paramilitary Basij units killed four PJAK militants in a clash close to the Iraqi border 30 In August 2008 under Iranian pressure one of Iraqi Kurdistan s ruling parties the PUK launched an offensive against PJAK forces KDP leader and President of Iraqi Kurdistan Massoud Barzani condemned PJAK operations against Iran multiple times 31 2009 edit On April 24 2009 PJAK rebels attacked a police station in Kermanshah province According to updated reports 18 policemen and 8 militants were killed in a fierce gun battle 32 According to Iranian government sources the attack resulted in 10 policemen and 10 militants being killed 32 According to the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research the attack which occurred on April 24 and 25 involved PJAK attacks on two police stations in the cities of Ravansar in Northern Kermanshah province and in Sanandaj the capital of Kurdistan province killing eleven police officers with more than ten PJAK militants reportedly killed 33 Iran responded a week later by attacking PJAK positions along the border area of Panjwin inside Iraq using helicopters According to Iraqi border guards officials the area attacked by Iran was not considered a stronghold of PJAK that appeared to have been the target of the raid According to the ICRC more than 800 Iraqi Kurds have been forced from their homes by the recent cross border violence 34 2010 edit In 2010 PJAK claimed responsibility for the deaths of 3 Revolutionary Guard soldiers in Khoy Earlier in the year Iranian police arrested a suspect in the killing of a prosecutor in the same region during clashes with Kurdish militants citation needed On 13 May 2010 Iraqi and Iranian border guards exchanged gunfire near the border village of Shamiran after the Iranians mistook the Iraqis for members of PJAK It was the first major incident between the two since December 2009 when Iran took control of a disputed oil well The gunfight lasted 90 minutes and an Iraqi officer was captured 35 2011 edit On March 24 two Iranian police officers were killed and three others injured in two attacks in the city of Sanandaj in Kurdistan Province and on April 1 four border guards were killed and three others were wounded in an attack against a police station near the city of Marivan citation needed On April 4 Iran s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said the perpetrators of the previous attacks in Sanandaj were killed citation needed Two militants affiliated to PJAK were reported to have been killed and another wounded by the IRIB TV website on June 19 2011 in Iran s northwestern town of Chaldran in West Azerbaijan province 36 On 16 July 2011 the Iranian army launched a major offensive against PJAK compounds in the mountainous regions of northern Iraq On July 17 the Revolutionary Guard killed at least five PJAK members and captured one named Saman Naseem 37 in a raid that destroyed one of the group s headquarters in northwestern Iran PJAK claimed 21 Iranian soldiers were killed in the clashes 38 39 Iranian authorities on the other hand confirmed their casualties at 1 killed and 3 injured while claiming to have inflicted heavy losses on the militants 40 They announced that they had captured three militant bases one of which was identified as Marvan and was said to be the leading PJAK camp in the region 41 PJAK militants claimed that they only lost two fighters during the attack carried out by the Iranian forces 42 On July 20 PJAK killed 5 Revolutionary Guard members and one commander 43 while Revolutionary Guard forces killed 35 PJAK fighters and captured several others during clashes on July 25 citation needed By July 26 more than 50 PJAK fighters and 8 Revolutionary Guards had been killed 44 and at least 100 PJAK fighters had been wounded according to Iranian sources 45 while over 800 people had been displaced by the fighting 46 verification needed At least 3 civilians were killed 47 During clashes in the Jasosan and Alotan heights the next day Iranian forces claimed to have killed over 21 PJAK fighters confirming that two Revolutionary Guards had been killed and two had been injured during the clashes citation needed On July 29 suspected PJAK militants blew up the Iran Turkey gas pipeline which was repaired the next day On August 1 Iranian forces killed 3 and arrested 4 of the militants said to be responsible for the attack at least one of which was a Turkish citizen 48 On August 5 the leader of the Kurdistan Free Life Party PJAK Rahman Haj Ahmedi claimed that more than 300 Iranian Revolutionary Guards had been killed in a series of ambushes while acknowledging 16 loses 49 Iranian officials however claimed to have killed over 150 PJAK forces during the operations 50 confirming the deaths of only 17 Revolutionary Guards 51 On August 8 2011 Abdul Rahman Haji Ahmadi the leader of PJAK said the armed militant group is prepared to negotiate with Iran and maintained that Kurdish issues need to be solved through peaceful means In an exclusive interview with Rudaw Haji Ahmadi acknowledged that in some cases compromise is inevitable and indicated that PJAK is willing to lay down its arms He said fighting may not help Kurds secure political and cultural rights in Iran 52 On August 8 2011 Murat Karayilan the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party PKK said they withdrew all PJAK fighters out of Iran and sent them to PKK camps in the Qandil mountains He said they replaced PJAK forces on the Iranian border with PKK forces to prevent further clashes and called on Iran to end attacks because unlike the PJAK the PKK was not at war with Iran 53 Karayilan released the following statement As the PKK we have not declared any war against Iran We do not wish to fight against the Islamic Republic of Iran either Why Because one of the aims of the international forces who seek to re design the region is to besiege Iran Currently they are more preoccupied with Syria If they just manage to work things out there as they wish it will be Iran s turn next As Kurds we do not think it quite right to be involved in a war with Iran at such a stage You have no interest in targeting the PKK You must end this conflict It is America that wants this conflict to go on Because these attacks of yours serve America s interests They want both the PKK and Iran to grow weaker 54 On September 5 2011 the Revolutionary Guard rejected the cease fire declared by PJAK as meaningless as long as PJAK forces remained on the borders of the Islamic Republic Iran also said its troops had killed 30 PJAK fighters and wounded 40 in several days of fighting 55 56 The battle ended inconclusively and on September 12 the cease fire was restored 7 Iranian officials claimed to have captured three PJAK camps and to have destroyed PJAK s military capability The organization dismissed this asserting that its fighters had defeated an Iranian attempt to seize the Qandil area 7 On September 29 2011 Iranian sources reported PJAK had officially surrendered after 180 deaths and 300 injured 57 According to another Iranian source Iranian ambassador to Iraq Hassan Danaei Far declared that they had cleared all areas of PJAK activities and that they had reached an agreement with the Iraqi central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government in which they vowed to keep the border peaceful 58 According to Fars news Revolutionary Guard commander General Abdollah Araqi declared that the conflict had ended after PJAK had accepted Iran s terms and withdrawn all its forces from Iranian soil 6 In late October 2011 President of Iraqi Kurdistan Massoud Barzani said in a visit to Tehran that an agreement had been reached between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the PJAK in which the PJAK had agreed to end its armed activities in the region and that the borders between Iran and the Kurdistan Region would now be safe 59 On December 28 2011 Iran s Revolutionary Guards Corps clashed with PJAK forces in Baneh in northwest Iran 60 61 PJAK reported that it was attacked by Iranian government forces which led to the death of nine government officials PJAK says it sustained no casualties 61 The Fars news agency which is close to the Revolutionary Guard confirmed that a member of Basij an IRGC sub group was killed in the conflict adding that several PJAK members were wounded 61 2012 edit On early January Gloria Center of the IDC published that despite the claims of the Iranians to have destroyed PJAK the organization has survived the assault 7 PJAK was reported to be engaged in the construction of new defensive positions close to the border 7 On January 4 it was reported that the Kurdistan Free Life Party PJAK of Iran said Islamic Republic forces have violated the terms of the ceasefire between the two sides 61 relating to the Baneh clash a week earlier On April 25 2012 in a clash near Paveh in Kermanshah province of Iran 4 IRGC officers were killed and 4 others wounded Casualties were also inflicted to PJAK but there were no estimations available 62 63 2013 edit During February 2013 3 Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers died in separate clashes with PJAK 64 verification needed There were also two clashes between the PJAK and the IRGC in mid April near areas along the border with Turkey 65 A number of clashes between PJAK and Revolutionary Guard took place also in May 2013 with at least 2 Iranian soldiers killed 66 On June 6 2013 Yusuf Hamzelu a member of Iran s Revolutionary Guards was killed near the northwestern border of Iran according to Iran s Mehr News Agency 65 He was buried in Zandan on June 10 The Kurdistan Free Life Party PJAK PKK s Iranian branch denied the news report in a media release and actually accused Iran of hiding the fact that the Iranian soldier was killed by the Free Syrian Army FSA in Syria 65 On early August the Iran based Kurdistan Free Life Party PJAK announced that it is ready to send fighters to Syrian Kurdistan to fight beside their people 67 On August 14 4 Revolutionary Guardsmen were killed and 3 wounded during mine dismantlement in Kurdistan province 68 On August 19 a battle erupted in the Sardasht border area between Revolutionary Guard and PJAK in which PJAK claimed to kill 7 Iranian soldiers and lose 2 fighters Iran didn t comment on the event On October 10 5 69 IRGC members were killed in Kurdistan province During October 9 civilian casualties were reported from Revolutionary Guard fire in Iranian Kurdistan province 70 Also during October 2 PJAK members were executed 71 Following the hanging of the two militants on October 25 some protests took place outside the Iranian consulate in Erbil as well as in Iraqi Kurdistan 72 On October 31 1 Iranian border guard killed by militants 73 2014 edit In June 2014 Iranian forces claimed to clash PJAK militants and killing at least 2 of them citation needed 2015 edit In February 2015 Iran executed an individual accused of being a PJAK member 74 On 20 May 2015 PJAK guerrillas killed an IRGC soldier in Marivan county after a counter insurgency operation 75 In August 2015 PJAK claimed killing 33 Iranian soldiers in two separate incidents 76 with Iran confirming only five casualties 77 Warfare tactics editPJAK has adopted hit and run assault tactics against Iranian forces carrying them out with small arms and grenades 13 Following their attacks PJAK militants often cross back into Iraq and into the regions of Iraqi Kurdistan 13 This tactic is often responsible for subsequent Iranian retaliation that results in civilian casualties as it leads Iranian forces to mistake civilian villages with PJAK outposts and bases PJAK is believed to have some heavier weaponry in its Mount Qandil camp such as RPGs and heavy machine guns 13 Foreign involvement editIranian and Turkish authorities allegations edit Iran has accused the PJAK group of operating as a proxy of hostile foreign intelligence services namely the intelligence services of the United States as well as those operated by Israel Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom 78 Moreover Turkish authorities have made allegations on links between PJAK and the United States 79 Turkey has had cooperations with Iran to fight PKK and PJAK through Iran Turkey High Security Commission 80 Both Iran and Turkey perceive PJAK as a threat and putting them through great challenges 81 According to the Jamestown Foundation s July 2006 Terrorism Monitor PJAK s military operations are believed to be funded by Kurdish immigrant communities in Europe and Kurdish businessmen in Iran 13 According to Aljazeera Turkey s minister of interior has said that Turkey and Iran will conduct a joint operation to tackle the Kurdish activists However the minister did not disclose the time and location of the intended operation 82 Despite the supposed cooperation between Turkey and Iran Turkey has accused Iran and its ally Syria of backing the PKK 83 Alleged Israeli involvement edit Israel s relations with Kurds is traced back to the implementation of its alliance of the periphery 78 It is commented that Israel and the Iranian Kurdish insurgent organizations have a common interest in weakening the Government of Islamic Republic of Iran 84 In November 2006 journalist Seymour Hersh writing in The New Yorker supported foreign involvement stating that the US military and the Israelis are giving the group equipment training and targeting information in order to cause destruction in Iran 85 A security source in Baghdad has told Georges Malbrunot of Le Figaro in 2012 that Mossad agents are actively recruiting Iranian Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan and training them in spy craft and sabotage 86 Also a government consultant with ties to the Pentagon has confirmed that Israel has provided PJAK with equipment and training to carry out attacks against targets within Iran according to Institute for Policy Studies 87 The U S and Israeli involvement is also acknowledged by several scholars including Nader Entessar of University of South Alabama 88 Suleyman Elik of Istanbul Medeniyet University 80 and Dilshod Achilov of East Tennessee State University 89 In a book published by Routledge in 2016 co authors Robert Scheer and Reese Erlich write T he Israelis are also helping train PJAK for its armed forays into Iran But given the sentiment among Arabs and Muslims the Israeli government tries to keep its activities quite 90 Phyllis Bennis also cites Israeli support 91 However PJAK has denied any relations with Israel 92 United States relations with PJAK edit See also Iran Freedom and Support Act nbsp Wikinews has related news Kucinich asks Bush about alleged US support for armed insurgency in Iran Despite condemning PKK attacks against Turkey 91 the US government is said to be supporting PJAK 85 91 In early 2006 US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought US 75 million in extra to fund anti government propaganda and opposition groups inside Iran 80 On April 18 2006 Congressman Dennis Kucinich sent a letter to President George W Bush in which he expressed his judgment that the U S is likely to be supporting and coordinating PJAK since PJAK operates and is based in Iraqi territory which is under the control of the U S supported Kurdistan Regional Government 93 In an April 2009 interview with Turkish daily Aksam former Chair of the President s Intelligence Advisory Board 2001 2005 Brent Scowcroft admitted that the United States supported and encouraged PJAK against Iran during Presidency of George W Bush but Obama administration has ended this policy 79 On 4 February 2009 United States Department of the Treasury designated PJAK as a terrorist organization 94 Moreover the former PJAK leader Haji Ahmadi has accused the US of fighting the Kurdish rebels alongside Turkey and Iran 92 PJAK statements edit In an interview with Slate magazine in June 2006 PJAK spokesman Ihsan Warya was paraphrased as stating that he nevertheless points out that PJAK really does wish it were an agent of the United States and that PJAK is disappointed that Washington hasn t made contact The Slate article continues stating that the PJAK wishes to be supported by and work with the United States in overthrowing the government of Iran in a similar way to the US eventually cooperated with Kurdish organisations in Iraq in overthrowing the government of Iraq during the most recent Iraq War 95 One of the top officials in the PKK made a statement in late 2006 that If the US is interested in PJAK then it has to be interested in the PKK as well referring to the alliance between the two groups and their memberships in the Kurdistan Democratic Confederation KCK 96 In August 2007 Haji Ahmadi the leader of PJAK visited Washington DC in order to seek more open support from the US both politically and militarily 97 but it was later said that he only made limited contacts with officials in Washington 25 Biryar Gabar a PJAK commander from Sanandaj told Newsweek that Haji Ahmadi s meeting was with the high level officials and they have discussed future of Iran Washington has downplayed the event 88 Ahmadi however denied later any relations with the US and accused them of cooperating with Turkey and Iran In 2018 the PJAK suggested creating a coalition of Kurdish groups resisting the Iranian regime according to the Jerusalem Post 98 Casualties editUppsala count edit The Uppsala Conflict Data Program recorded 434 fatalities ranging from 429 to 673 in the Iran PJAK conflict from 2005 until 2011 These figures however do not include casualties from the year 2010 14 Year Low estimate Best estimate High estimate 2005 28 28 37 2006 26 31 68 2007 47 47 94 2008 42 42 178 2009 67 67 67 2010 2011 219 219 229 Total 429 434 673 Secondary source reports summary edit According to numerous news reports from 2004 to present casualties range between 669 and 979 these figures are a mix of PJAK claims Iranian government claims and third party analysis 2004 casualties 10 killed 2004 clashes 10 Kurdish demonstrators killed unknown number of Iranian security forces killed in retaliation by PJAK first PJAK armed attack 13 2005 casualties 100 120 killed During 2005 some 100 120 13 Iranian security forces killed according to PJAK claims unknown PJAK casualties According to Elling 120 Iranian soldiers were killed in the conflict in 2005 99 2006 casualties 80 120 99 killed February 2006 Maku demonstrations 10 protesters killed 13 April 2006 Iran raids by PJAK 26 killed citation needed April 2006 Iraq raids by Iran 10 militants killed 13 May 2006 Kermanshah bombing five wounded citation needed 27 May 2006 4 Iranian security forces killed in a clash near Mako 13 September 2006 Sardasht incident 30 PJAK killed and 40 injured unknown Iranian casualties Iranian claim 26 2007 casualties 102 114 killed 2007 West Azerbaijan offensive 89 101 killed citation needed 2007 Iraq raid unknown citation needed 2008 West Azerbaijan clashes 13 PJAK militants killed 24 wounded Iranian claim citation needed 2008 casualties 28 100 killed 25 May 2 June clashes 8 100 PJAK militants killed 92 Iranian soldiers and para militaries killed PJAK claim 100 21 PJAK and 7 Revolutionary Guards killed Iranian claim 101 2009 casualties 20 26 killed Ravansar and Sanandaj police station attacks 2009 20 26 killed citation needed 2010 casualties 45 killed Mahabad bombing 12 killed citation needed 2010 Khoy incident 3 Revolutionary Guards killed citation needed 2010 Iraq raid 30 militants killed citation needed 2011 casualties 223 344 killed March 2011 Sanandaj attacks 2 3 Iranian police killed 3 5 wounded unknown number of PJAK also killed in retaliation citation needed April 1 2011 Marivan attack 4 Revolutionary Guards killed citation needed June 2011 Chaldran clash 2 militants killed 1 wounded citation needed 2011 cross border raids 16 July 5 September 210 326 killed December 2011 Baneh clash between 1 and 9 Revolutionary Guards killed between none and 4 PJAK militants killed Total 5 9 killed 2012 casualties 4 8 killed April 25 2012 in Paveh Kermanshah province 4 Revolutionary Guards officers were killed and 4 others wounded unknown casualties to PJAK 62 63 2013 casualties 44 killed and executed February 2013 3 Revolutionary Guards killed in an incident 102 19 May 2013 2 Iranian soldiers killed Iranian statement 103 August 14 4 Revolutionary Guards killed and 3 wounded during mine dismantlement in Kurdistan province 104 19 August 2013 7 Iranian soldiers and two PJAK militants killed in Sardash border clash PJAK claim 105 October 10 5 Revolutionary Guards killed in Kurdistan province 106 October 9 civilian casualties from IRGC fire 70 October 27 3 PJAK killed 3 captured citation needed October 2 PJAK members executed 71 October 31 1 Iranian border guard killed by rebels 73 2014 casualties 5 6 killed January 4 1 civilian killed 107 June 21 2 PJAK killed citation needed 2015 casualties 8 42 killed note 1 See also editList of modern conflicts in the Middle EastNotes edit See 75 108 109 110 References edit Iran denies joint raid with Turkey against Kurdish rebels The Times of Israel Iranian Kurdish PJAK rebels deny ties to Israel Namo Abdulla 13 May 2020 Activists Iraq s Kurdish Region Becomes Less Safe for Iranian Dissidents VOA Retrieved 15 February 2021 Paul Bucala Shayan Enferadi Iran s Kurdish Insurgency Critical Threats Retrieved 15 February 2021 Why Iranian Kurdish party is stepping up fight against Tehran Al Monitor 1 July 2016 Archived from the original on 24 December 2016 Retrieved 2 February 2017 a b Fars News Agency PJAK Surrenders to Iran Archived from the original on 2011 09 29 Retrieved 2011 10 03 a b c d e Rebels Against The Pasdaran Archived from the original on 3 January 2012 Retrieved 11 November 2014 rojhelat nu Archived from the original on 2016 01 25 Retrieved 2011 10 18 Iran Turkey share intel on PKK PJAK UPI com 2010 07 30 Archived from the original on 2010 08 05 Retrieved 2011 04 15 Wood Graeme 2006 06 12 Meet the Kurdish guerrillas who want to topple the Tehran regime Slate Archived from the original on 2009 07 23 Retrieved 2011 04 15 Henry Derek The Jamestown Foundation Between the Hammer and the Anvil An Exclusive Interview with PJAK s Agiri Rojhilat Jamestown Jamestown Foundation Archived from the original on 2012 09 05 Retrieved 2011 04 15 Oppel Jr Richard A October 23 2007 In Iraq Conflict Simmers on a 2nd Kurdish Front The New York Times Archived from the original on July 25 2016 Retrieved February 22 2017 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Iran s Kurdish Threat PJAK The Jamestown Foundation Archived from the original on 13 January 2013 Retrieved 11 November 2014 a b Database Uppsala Conflict Data Program UCDP Archived from the original on 2014 07 19 Retrieved 2012 10 21 BBCPersian com Bbc co uk Archived from the original on 2007 09 05 Retrieved 2008 11 10 Partlow Joshua 12 September 2007 Shelling Near Iranian Border Is Forcing Iraqi Kurds to Flee washingtonpost com The Washington Post Archived from the original on 6 November 2012 Retrieved 10 November 2008 Iran s Kurdish Threat PJAK Terrorism Monitor 4 12 Jamestown Foundation 15 June 2006 Archived from the original on October 11 2008 Retrieved 2008 11 10 a b c d e Hicks Neil The human rights of Kurds in the Islamic Republic of Iran April 2000 Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2011 08 07 Retrieved 2011 10 18 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link The militant Kurds of Iran Jane s Security News Janes com Archived from the original on October 10 2008 Retrieved 2008 11 10 a b c d e Iran sends in troops to crush border unrest TheGuardian com 4 August 2005 Archived from the original on 2016 10 26 Retrieved 2016 12 17 a b c Gunter M M The Kurds Ascending The Evolving Solution to the Kurdish Problem in Iraq p 134 Springer 2016 Iran Arrests 7 PKK Terrorists Archived 2011 06 05 at the Wayback Machine April 10 2006 Cihan News Agency zaman com Tehran faces growing Kurdish opposition Archived 2006 10 14 at the Wayback Machine James Brandon The Washington Times April 3 2006 The militant Kurds of Iran Jane s Security News Archived from the original on December 11 2008 a b Trouble on the Iran Iraq Border Newsweek World News MSNBC com Msnbc msn com September 13 2007 Retrieved 2008 11 10 dead link a b c d e Batty David 5 September 2011 Iranian forces kill Kurdish rebels near Iraq border The Guardian Retrieved 29 November 2014 a b PJAK Claims Fresh Attacks in Iran Jamestown org Archived from the original on 2007 06 25 Retrieved 2008 11 10 PJAK helikopter dusurdu October 11 2007 Archived from the original on 2007 10 11 Iranians attack Kurdish rebels in Iraq Mcclatchydc com Archived from the original on 2009 07 03 Retrieved 2011 04 15 Four Kurdish rebels killed in western Iran IRNA Hurriyet com tr 11 October 2008 Archived from the original on 2011 05 22 Retrieved 2008 11 10 Archived copy PDF Archived PDF from the original on 2011 08 15 Retrieved 2011 07 14 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link a b Death toll 26 in battle with rebels Archived 2011 06 06 at the Wayback Machine Gulf Times May 2009 Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research Conflict Barometer 2009 1 Archived 2011 10 18 at the Wayback Machine Iran helicopters strike Iraq Kurd villages Archived 2009 05 18 at the Wayback Machine AFP May 2009 Alawsat Asharq 14 May 2010 Iraqi and Iranian Soldiers Trade Fire on Border Archived from the original on 7 July 2011 Two Kurdish PJAK rebels killed in Iranian Kurdistan TV Archived from the original on 11 November 2014 Retrieved 11 November 2014 Amnesty International 13 February 2015 Iran juvenile offender to be executed in a week gives harrowing torture account Archived from the original on 16 November 2018 Retrieved 5 December 2018 Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces kill 5 Kurdish rebels in raid near Iraqi border Winnipeg Free Press The Associated Press 21 soldats iraniens tues par les guerillas kurdes Archived from the original on 14 March 2012 Retrieved 11 November 2014 AFP Iraq Iran issue border demands after clashes Khaleej Times Archived from the original on 2012 10 01 Retrieved 2019 04 25 Iran captures Kurdish bases in first Iraq offensive since 1980 88 war Archived from the original on 22 August 2011 Retrieved 11 November 2014 Iranian troops attack Kurdish PJAK rebel bases in Iraq BBC News 18 July 2011 هه لوکانی کوردستان Archived from the original on 2011 05 30 Retrieved 2011 07 23 Kurd rebels kill Basij militiaman Iran agency Archived from the original on July 30 2011 Giris icin Tiklayiniz Retrieved 26 January 2015 permanent dead link Deaths Reported in Fighting Between Iran Kurd Rebels Archived from the original on 15 March 2012 Retrieved 11 November 2014 THE DAILY STAR News Middle East Iran shelling of Kurd separatist rebels displaces over 200 families Archived from the original on 2011 08 24 Retrieved 2011 08 04 Iran kills arrests people linked to gas pipeline blast Reuters August 1 2011 Archived from the original on November 24 2015 Retrieved October 27 2017 Over 300 guards killed while engaging PJAK says leader Politics AKNEWS com Archived from the original on 2011 10 07 Retrieved 2011 08 05 Iranian officials deny arrest of Kurdish PKK leader Archived from the original on 2012 11 08 Retrieved 2011 08 15 Iran says PJAK surrender imminent Payvand Archived from the original on 8 December 2014 Retrieved 11 November 2014 Rudaw in English The Happening Latest News and Multimedia about Kurdistan Iraq and the World PJAK Leader We re Prepared to Negotiate with Iran Archived from the original on 2012 04 12 Retrieved 2017 04 23 SundaysZaman SundaysZaman October 3 2021 Archived from the original on October 2 2011 Why would Iran capture Karayilan Hurriyet Daily News Archived from the original on 8 September 2011 Retrieved 11 November 2014 Iran rejects PJAK s cease fire demands withdrawal The Jerusalem Post Archived from the original on 23 December 2012 Retrieved 11 November 2014 http pukmedia com english index php option com content amp view article amp id 9308 pjaks ceasefire awaits irans response amp catid 30 kurdistan amp Itemid 388 permanent dead link پژاک با 180 کشته و 300 زخمی تسلیم شد Archived from the original on 2011 10 01 Retrieved 2011 09 29 Archived copy Archived from the original on 2011 10 08 Retrieved 2011 10 03 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link dead link Safer border following agreement with PJAK Barzani Archived from the original on 10 July 2012 Retrieved 11 November 2014 IRGC forces fight with Kurdish group Radio Zamaneh Independent Media Debate and E learning for Iran Archived from the original on 18 January 2012 Retrieved 11 November 2014 a b c d PJAK says Iran has violated ceasefire Payvand Archived from the original on 3 November 2014 Retrieved 11 November 2014 a b Kurdish PJAK rebels kill four Iran s elite Revolutionary Guards Archived from the original on 26 October 2014 Retrieved 11 November 2014 a b Iranian forces in conflict with PJAK Radio Zamaneh Independent Media Debate and E learning for Iran Archived from the original on 26 April 2012 Retrieved 11 November 2014 خبرگزاری فارس یگان های رزمی سپاه در جنوب شرق و شمال غرب سازمان دهی تروریست ها توسط کشورهای حاشیه خلیج فارس خبرگزاری فارس February 20 2013 Archived from the original on October 15 2013 a b c Al Monitor Iranian Kurdish Struggle Linked to Turkey Syria 14 June 2013 Archived from the original on 2014 04 08 Retrieved 2014 04 08 Sardasht ag ir Archived from the original on 22 December 2014 Retrieved 11 November 2014 Iraqi Kurdish Leader Threatens Syria Intervention Arutz Sheva 10 August 2013 Archived from the original on 11 November 2014 Retrieved 11 November 2014 Land mines kill guards in Kurdistan Radio Zamaneh 2013 08 14 Archived from the original on 2013 10 22 Retrieved 2014 01 02 Five IRGC soldiers killed in clash with terrorists in western Iran Xinhua News Agency 11 October 2013 Archived from the original on 12 November 2013 Retrieved 2 January 2014 a b Iran s Islamic revolutionary guard corps IRGC killed two Kurdish civilians Ekurd net Archived from the original on 2013 10 22 Retrieved 2014 01 02 a b Hudson Alexandra November 2013 Iranian Kurd leader says West shouldn t be fooled by Rouhani Reuters Archived from the original on 14 November 2014 Retrieved 11 November 2014 Across the Zagros Iranian influence in Iraqi Kurdistan TheGuardian com 21 November 2013 a b Kurdish rebels kill Iranian border guard report Archived from the original on 20 November 2013 Retrieved 11 November 2014 Iran executes young Iranian Kurd despite global outcry France 24 Archived from the original on 23 February 2015 Retrieved 26 February 2015 a b PJAK Einheiten toten einen iranischen Soldaten Kurdische Nachrichten 23 May 2015 Archived from the original on 2015 12 16 Retrieved 29 May 2015 PJAK strikes Iranian military guard post kills 20 DailySabah 7 August 2015 Archived from the original on 23 September 2015 Retrieved 12 August 2015 Iranian Kurdish Party says killed 12 Revolutionary Guards in attack The Jerusalem Post Archived from the original on 2016 04 14 Retrieved 2016 01 23 a b Zambelis Chris 1 March 2011 The Factors Behind Rebellion in Iranian Kurdistan CTC Sentinel 4 3 Combating Terrorism Center Archived from the original on 27 September 2016 Retrieved 24 September 2016 a b Ihsan Bal M Turgut Demirtepe USAK Yearbook of Politics and International Relations Vol 5 International Strategic Research Organization USAK 2012 p 43 ISBN 6054030698 a b c Elik Suleyman Iran Turkey Relations 1979 2011 Conceptualising the Dynamics of Politics Religion and Security in Middle Power States Routledge 2013 pp 91 92 The PKK PJAK and Iran Implications for U S Turkish Relations The Washington Institute Turkey Iran to target Kurd rebels together Minister www aljazeera com Syria and Iran backing Kurdish terrorist group says Turkey Ofra Bengio 18 March 2016 Israel and the Kurds Love by Proxy The American Interest Archived from the original on 2 October 2016 Retrieved 24 September 2016 a b Hersh Seymour M November 20 2006 The Next Act The New Yorker Archived from the original on November 23 2006 Retrieved November 19 2006 Georges Malbrunot 9 January 2012 L Iran defie l Amerique Le Figaro in French Archived from the original on 9 October 2016 Retrieved 24 September 2016 Giorgio Cafiero 24 January 2013 The Dreams and Dilemmas of Iraqi Kurdistan Foreign Policy In Focus Archived from the original on 11 October 2016 Retrieved 24 September 2016 a b Entessar Nader Kurdish Politics in Regional Context In Kurdish Politics in the Middle East Rowman amp Littlefield 2010 p 205 ISBN 0739140396 9780739140390 Palash Ghosh 17 January 2012 Iranian Nuclear Scientists Is Israel Behind the Assassinations International Business Times Archived from the original on 27 September 2016 Retrieved 24 August 2016 Reese Erlich Robert Scheer 2016 Iran Agenda The Real Story of U S Policy and the Middle East Crisis Routledge p 140 ISBN 978 1317257370 a b c Phyllis Bennis 2009 Ending the Iraq War A Primer Olive Branch Press p 168 ISBN 978 1566567176 PJAK is made up of Iranian Kurds whose members attack Iran rather than Turkey but who are also based in the Kurdish region of Iraq Israel supports PJAK s anti Iran mobilization The complication is that the US supports PJAK attacks in Iran even while it condemns identical PKK attacks on Turkey a b Iranian Kurdish PJAK rebels deny ties to Israel ekurd net Retrieved 2021 01 10 Kucinich Questions the President On US Trained Insurgents In Iran Sends Letter To President Bush Archived 2006 05 25 at the Wayback Machine Dennis Kucinich April 18 2006 U S brands anti Iran Kurdish group terrorist Reuters 4 February 2009 Archived from the original on 11 November 2016 Retrieved 27 March 2016 Wood Graeme June 12 2006 Iran Bombs Iraq Meet the Kurdish guerrillas who want to topple the Tehran regime Microsoft Archived from the original on March 11 2007 Retrieved December 2 2006 PKK commander says Washington has contact with Kurdish rebels fighting Iran Daily Star Archived from the original on 2008 10 11 Retrieved 2008 11 10 Kurdish leader seeks U S help to topple regime The Washington Times 4 August 2007 Retrieved 2008 11 10 Three Kurdish groups in Iran are now fighting the IRGC The Jerusalem Post JPost com a b Elling R 18 February 2013 Minorities in Iran ISBN 9781137047809 Retrieved 26 January 2015 a b PJAK 92 Iranian soldiers officers and counter guerillas have been killed Archived from the original on 26 October 2014 Retrieved 11 November 2014 Preparing the Battlefield The New Yorker 7 July 2008 Archived from the original on 29 March 2012 Retrieved 11 November 2014 in Persian Fars News 2 Archived 2013 10 15 at the Wayback Machine Increased IRGC Forces Create Security State Atmosphere in Border Regions International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran 23 May 2013 Archived from the original on 2013 10 22 Retrieved 2013 10 12 Land mines kill guards in Kurdistan Radio Zamaneh Archived from the original on 22 October 2013 Retrieved 11 November 2014 Kurd rebels claim to kill seven Iranian soldiers 26 August 2013 Archived from the original on 11 November 2014 Retrieved 11 November 2014 Five IRGC soldiers killed in clash with terrorists in western Iran Xinhua Archived from the original on 12 November 2013 Retrieved 11 November 2014 Iranian Kurdistan News in brief Archived 2016 01 25 at the Wayback Machine On Saturday January 4 Iranian security forces shot and killed a 26 year old Kurdish man by the name of Saman Khzri in the town of Sardasht Ekurd net PJAK strikes Iranian military guard post kills 20 DailySabah 7 August 2015 Archived from the original on 23 September 2015 Retrieved 11 September 2015 Iranian Kurdish Party says killed 12 Revolutionary Guards in attack Iranian media claims only five Guards were killed in the attack 3 Archived 2016 04 14 at the Wayback Machine Iran Executes Second Kurdish Activist this Month Despite International Outcry 28 August 2015 Archived from the original on 2016 12 04 Retrieved 2016 01 23 External links editPJAK website in Persian Sorani and English Extract from article about Kurdish Iranian militants 28 June 2006 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Iran PJAK conflict amp oldid 1221663616, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.