Iranian bombardment in Kurdistan: 14 dead, 40 wounded, two more missing
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – An Iranian Kurdish opposition group, the Kurdistan Democratic Party – Iran (KDP-I), on Saturday released their latest number on casualties sustained during Iran’s missile attack on Erbil’s town of Koya.
On Saturday morning, Iranian missiles targeted the headquarters of the KDP-I and the Democratic Party of the Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), as well as an Iranian Kurdish refugee camp in the Kurdistan Region’s Koya.
The rockets specifically targeted the KDP-I’s political bureau, the PDKI’s training center, and a Peshmerga housing complex being used as a refugee camp for Iranian Kurds.
Video footage of Iranian military base from where ballistic missiles were fired at PDKI’s headquarters and refugee camps. Cowardly act by a terrorist regime, which falsely claims that its missile program is defensive!#PDKI #KOYA #rojhelat #twitterkurds #IRGCTerrorist pic.twitter.com/mDkoQXp1Yy
— PDKI (@PDKIenglish) September 8, 2018
According to the KDP-I’s statement, the bombardment ‘martyred’ 14 members of the two parties and injured 40 more. The Secretary of KDP-I, Mustafa Mawludi, and his predecessor, Khalid Azizi, were also among those wounded during the attack.
The party also revealed the identities of the fallen members, which were: Karim Mahdawi (Karim Saqzi), Ibrahim Ibrahimi (Braim Zewayi), Nasrin Hadad, Rahman Piroti, Suhaila Qadri, Hashim Azizi, Osman Osmani, Karim Rasulzada (Mam Sherko), Hawre Karsaz (Hawre Shekhani), Peshawa Said Omar, Jamal Akbari, and Mansour Akbaripur.
The statement mentioned that two Peshmerga members of the other party, the PDKI, were also killed and their names are yet to be announced.
The KDP-I added that two other members of its party are yet to be found, and are believed to be trapped under the rubble of buildings hit by rockets.
Video footage of Iran’s use of long-range missiles in attack against PDKI’s bases and adjacent refugee camps in Koya, Iraqi Kurdistan.#PDKI #rojhelat #Kurdistan #twitterkurds pic.twitter.com/uTDm7RK0Av
— PDKI (@PDKIenglish) September 8, 2018
It is the largest attack on the KDP-I’s headquarters since 1996. The party split from PDKI in 2006 after an internal dispute.
The two parties reignited a conflict with the Iranian government in June 2016, 20 years after laying down their weapons to prevent jeopardizing Kurdish gains made in northern Iraq.
Following Saturday’s bombardment, both the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Kurdistan Parliament condemned the Iranian attack and called on Iranian Kurdish groups to avoid using the Kurdistan Region’s soil to attack neighboring states.
Editing by Nadia Riva