Kurdistan
Damage from an Iranian attack near the city of Sulaimani, Kurdistan Region. AFP file photo
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two drones and a missile struck Iranian opposition bases near Erbil and Sulaimani on Thursday, bringing the total number of attacks to 16, despite a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran.
“It only resulted in material damage,” an official from the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) told Rudaw after a drone hit one of their bases near Erbil on Thursday.
Another bomb-laden drone targeted a Kurdish group in Balisan, north of Erbil. A base belonging to the Komala Revolutionary Toilers of Iranian Kurdistan near Sulaimani was also struck. No casualties were reported, Rudaw has learned.
The renewed attacks on Kurdish opposition groups come after the Iranian consulate in Erbil issued a statement on the day of the ceasefire, calling on Baghdad and Erbil to expel these groups for allegedly collaborating with Iran’s enemies.
Despite the announcement of a fragile two-week ceasefire, Tehran has continued to target the Kurdistan Region with drone and missile strikes.
On Tuesday evening, a young female member of the Komala Toilers of Kurdistan died from wounds she sustained in a drone attack earlier that day targeting the group in Sulaimani province.
During the conflict, more than 700 drones and missiles struck the Kurdistan Region, killing over a dozen people and injuring at least 90, according to Rudaw estimates.
Based on official statements and Rudaw data, the Kurdistan Region has been hit by 12 drones and missiles in the past 48 hours alone.
A drone strike on Surdash camp, southwest of Sulaimani, on Tuesday left one Iranian Kurdish fighter dead and at least two others injured.
Tehran views Iranian Kurdish opposition groups as an existential threat - a concern that intensified following the 2022 “Women, Life, Freedom” movement, which began as a call for women’s rights and later evolved into nationwide anti-government protests. Hundreds were killed and thousands arrested during the unrest.
Iran has accused these groups of fueling and expanding the protests, leading to a security agreement with the Iraqi government in September 2023 aimed at disarming and relocating them. Although they have been moved away from border areas and placed in six camps across the Kurdistan Region, Iran has continued to strike their positions, describing the attacks as preemptive.
The Kurdistan Region hosts several Iranian Kurdish opposition parties, which Tehran labels as “terrorist” or “separatist” groups, and has repeatedly targeted them with cross-border drone, missile, and artillery strikes.
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