Flames rise from a building after a drone strike hit a Kurdistan Freedom Party of Iran base near Darashakran in Erbil governorate early Wednesday, video obtained by 964media shows.
Suspected drone strike hits Iranian Kurdish opposition base near Erbil, killing 1
ERBIL — A suspected drone strike hit a base belonging to the Kurdistan Freedom Party of Iran near the Darashakran subdistrict in Khabat district early Wednesday, killing one fighter and wounding another, according to party officials and video obtained by 964media.
Footage reviewed by 964media shows flames rising from the site. A voice heard in the video says the attack was carried out by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 964media has not verified the claim.
Rebazi Sharifi, a member of the command of the party’s National Army, told 964media the strike hit at “5:45 a.m.” He said the base had been relocated after an earlier missile attack near the Altun Kupri border area and reopened “on the Erbil-Duhok road, specifically in Darashakran.”
Sharifi said the attack killed a fighter identified as Nebaz Mohammadi, 40, and left another fighter seriously wounded.
In a statement, the Kurdistan Freedom Party of Iran said the base was targeted “once again” by a missile and drone attack. The party said “Muzaffar Mohammadzhadeh, known as Nebaz,” a member of the party and of the logistics unit of its National Army, was killed in the strike.
The Kurdistan Freedom Party of Iran is an Iranian Kurdish opposition group headquartered in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq that has long sought greater rights and autonomy for Kurds in Iran. Its armed wing, the National Army of Kurdistan, has said it carried out operations against Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in response to Tehran’s crackdown on recent protests.
The party has also said its fighters in areas such as Ilam, Kermanshah and Firuzkuh responded to what it described as security force attacks on demonstrators and provided financial support and assistance to people fleeing unrest.
Kurdish opposition parties have issued statements backing demonstrations in Iran, and several groups have voiced support for protest movements in Iran’s northwest. The extent of their direct involvement in armed action varies.
Iranian state media has accused Kurdish factions of encouraging unrest and alleged they have moved beyond media activity into an active phase.
Iran has carried out multiple drone attacks against Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, repeatedly targeting their headquarters and military positions.