KRG asks Kurdish-Iranian opposition groups to leave
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Iranian officials have asked the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq to rein in and disarm Iranian-Kurdish militias based in the region, multiple sources familiar with the issue have said. The KRG’s two main parties – the Erbil-based KDP and the Sulaymaniyah-based PUK – have reportedly passed on the message to their guests.
The Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) is home to a number of Kurdish opposition militias from Iran. Among them are the KDPI, a sister organization of the KDP; multiple branches of Komala, a leftist militia; the Kurdistan Freedom Party, a nationalist group; PJAK, the Iranian branch of the PKK; and Xebat, an Islamist party.
According to a source within Komala quoted by Voice of America, the Kurdistan Regional Security Agency met with members of some parties this week, informing them that they had six month to either leave the region or be disarmed and transferred to IDP camps. One camp will be built in the Suleymaniyah region and two in the Erbil region.
The decision was made following meetings between Iranian and KRG officials. On May 31, KRG Interior Minister Rebar Ahmad and Iraqi National Security Council Advisory Qasim al-Araaji visited Tehran, Draw Media reports. The three sides discussed a recently-signed Iranian-Iraqi security agreement, which would see the Iraqi army take control of the border area between the KRI and Iran if the KRG cannot secure it.
Since late last year, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) reinforced positions in the Kurdish-majority Kordestan and West Azerbaijan provinces. The Iranian armed forces publically threatened to launch a cross-border land operation if Kurdish militias were not reined in. It has also launched repeated missile barrages, targeting known bases of Kurdish-Iranian militias in the KRI.
In September, Iranian attacks killed 13 people and wounded 58, most of them civilians, in more than 70 strikes, Al-Monitor reported at the time. The strikes targeted Komala near Sulaymaniyah, the Kurdistan Freedom Party near Altun Kupri, and the KDPI in Konya. Further attacks followed in November.
In recent days, there has been an uptick in violence. The PJAK’s military wing, the YRK, which shares a lair with the PKK in the Asos and Penjwen regions of the KRI, killed an Iranian soldier near the Kosalan mountains, west of Sanandaj, on June 12 in response to the Iranian military build-up. Yet other parties, too, have previously engaged in attacks against Iranian forces, such as the KDPI’s ‘Zagros Eagles’.
Iranian-Kurdish opposition militias, which in some cases have been based in the region for decades, largely refrained from employing violence against state security forces as protests over the killing of Mahsa (Jina) Amini, a Kurdish woman, broke out last September. Instead, most parties, excluding PJAK, attempted to unify under the Coordination Center of Iranian Kurdistan’s Political Parties. Despite Tehran accusing these parties of secessionism, all major parties, including PJAK, favor autonomy within Iran rather than independence.
Since protests erupted in Iran, state security forces have killed at least 134 Kurds in Iran, Hengaw, a human rights organization, said in March 2023. Additionally, 21 members of Iranian-Kurdish opposition parties have been killed by IRGC attacks on the KRI.
It is unclear whether the Iranian-Kurdish militias will comply with the KRG’s demands. “This decision has caused protests among our political and military leaders. Our military leaders will not be subject to the decision to lay down their arms and camp,” the Komala source quoted by VOA says. “We will resume our guerrilla struggle and return to the mountains, but we will not submit to Iran’s demands.”