One PDKI Peshmerga wounded in blast in Erbil

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – A remote-controlled bomb on Thursday targeted a vehicle in Erbil belonging to a Peshmerga from the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI).

The remote-controlled explosive device attached to the car of the PDKI Peshmerga, an Iranian Kurdish opposition party, detonated in Erbil’s Binaslawa neighborhood.

In a statement following the incident, the PDKI confirmed that one of its Peshmerga members was wounded from the bomb attack.

“A bomb exploded under a PDKI Peshmerga’s car in Binaslawa, severely injuring a Peshmerga and his son,” it said.

The statement added that Iran had previously “threatened to carry out terrorist attacks against the PDKI.”

On Dec. 20, 2016, two explosions targeted the PDK-Iran headquarters, another Iranian Kurdish opposition party, in the city of Koya in Erbil Province, killing five PDK-Iran members and one Kurdistan Region security member, wounding four others.

Founded in 1945 by the iconic Kurdish leader and President of the short-lived Kurdistan Republic Qazi Muhammad, the PDKI, a secular and social democratic party, has for decades been fighting for Kurdish autonomy and rights in Iran.

The PDKI reignited a conflict with the Islamic Republic of Iran in June 2016, 20 years after their silencing of weapons in 1996 for the sake of not jeopardizing Kurdish gains in northern Iraq.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany