Senior Iranian Kurdish Peshmerga Commander killed, party blames Iran

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Qadir Qadiri, a senior Kurdish Peshmerga Commander of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iran (KDP-Iran) was killed in Sulaimani’s Rania city on Tuesday night, and the party is now blaming his death on the Iranian government.

In a statement, the party announced that Qadiri was killed following his visit to Balisan – Chwarqurna. His body was found next to his car in the village of Hartale in Rania.

“He was shot 20 times outside of his car,” the party added, stating he was “assassinated” by Iran and its mercenaries.

His body was transferred to Rania hospital, and the police and the party have launched an investigation into the case.

The party mentioned that the deceased Peshmerga Commander had no personal issues with anyone in the region and blamed his assassination on Iran, noting that Tehran in the past two years had many plans against the party members in the Kurdistan Region.

There was no immediate comment from Iranian officials regarding the incident.

KDP-Iran is one of the Kurdish opposition parties that has resumed an armed struggle against the Iranian government over the past few years. The party’s headquarters is based in Koya city in Erbil Province.

Last week, a blast took place in Erbil’s sub-district of Binaslawa, killing Sabah Rahmani, 33, and wounding his father. Both of them were from Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhilat) and are Peshmergas for the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), another Kurdish opposition party.

On Dec. 20, 2016, two explosions targeted the KDP-Iran headquarters in Koya, killing five KDP-Iran members and one Kurdistan Region security member, and wounding four others.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany