Iran’s military has said it has targeted the headquarters of Iranian Kurdish forces in northern Iraq, stepping up strikes on Kurdish regions in both Iran and Iraq.
The military said it attacked “Kurdish groups opposed to the [Islamic] revolution in Iraqi Kurdistan with three missiles”. One person was killed and three injured in the strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday, the BBC has confirmed.
Tehran is intensifying its attacks on Iranian Kurdish groups in Iraq amid reports that US President Donald Trump wants them to join the fight against Iran, as US and Israeli strikes continue.
Kurdish Iranian opposition parties in Iraq have denied reports that some of their forces have crossed into Iran.
“This is not true. Do not believe it,” said Hanna Hussein Yazdan Pana of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK). “Not a single Peshmerga [fighter] has moved. No-one moves alone.”
She said six Kurdish opposition groups – which recently formed a coalition – were co-ordinating their plans but needed the Americans to pave the way for a move. She told the BBC nothing would happen this week.
“It’s not about the hours or days. We cannot move if the air above us is not cleaned. We need to see weapons depots [of Iran’s security forces] being destroyed. Otherwise, it would be suicidal.”
Pana also called for a no-fly zone to provide protection for Kurdish forces.
“The regime is very brutal,” she said, “and the most advanced weapon we have is a Kalashnikov.”
There has been growing speculation that Trump wants Kurdish forces to join the war, to provide boots on the ground.
The White House has denied a report that the president is considering arming them.
By BBC News
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