Two killed in Iranian-Kurdish opposition parties' feud in Sulaimani

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Two members of a Kurdish Iranian opposition party, the Organization of Kurdistan Toilers, have been killed in northern Sulaimani province as a result of a clash with another Kurdish leftist group, days after tensions flared up between the two sides, according to a statement. 

The two fighters of the Toilers were killed early Thursday in a clash with the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan at the Bana Gawra camp in Zirgwez, a press release from the Toilers party's central committee read. 

The Toilers accused the Komala fighters, known as Peshmerga, to have "attacked" their bases with "heavy weapons."

A number of Kurdish militants from both sides have been wounded as well, Kurdistan 24 has learned. 

Sulaimani security forces have been deployed to the area, where the fighting is still ongoing, a Kurdistan 24 reporter close to the scene reported. 

The fighting comes as tensions have recently flared between the two leftist parties months after the two sides had announced "reunification." The power struggle among the party's officials is suspected to be the cause of the renewed tensions. 

Komala Secretary Abdullah Mohtadi and Omer Elkhanizada, the leader of Toilers, announced in November 2022 that the parties had merged again following their split in 2007. 

The Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan was founded in 1969 by a group of Kurdish students and intellectuals from Tehran and other Kurdish cities. 

A number of Iranian opposition parties and groups have been stationed in Kurdistan Region for decades.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired dozens of ballistic missiles and armed drones against the suspected positions of the opposition parties in 2022.