KDPI member killed in Erbil Province

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Siamand Shabooyi, a member of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), was killed on Wednesday in Erbil Province.

His body was found in the Jezhnikan refugee camp near the Bahirka sub-district of Erbil Province on Wednesday afternoon.

Shabooyi was 35-years-old and from Oshnavieh, East Kurdistan (Rojhilat). In an announcement, the KDPI said ‎it is not acceptable for Iranian and Iraqi military forces to enter areas the group occupies and be reckless.‎

‎The KDPI calls on “countries, political groups, and democratic organizations to investigate this crime.‎”

Last week, two KDPI members were assassinated in the village of Halsho in the Qaladze region of Sulaimani Province.

Read More: Two members of Iranian Kurdish party killed in Qaladze 

Iran's renewed attacks on Wednesday come less than two months after another barrage of missile and drone strikes against the groups that also resulted in civilian casualties. Kurdistan 24 correspondent Soran Kamaran was critically injured while covering the bombardment south of Erbil in late September.

In a previous incident in Nov. 2022, five Iranian missiles hit the KDPI headquarters in the Koya district lying in the east of Erbil Province. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for the attacks, Iranian military-affiliated media announced. At least three were killed while eight others were wounded, Kurdish medical officials announced.

In another similar incident on Sept. 28, 2022, Iran killed nine people in drone and missile attacks in areas occupied by Iranian-Kurdish opposition parties in the Kurdistan Region.

Iran has accused Kurdish opposition groups of fueling the Mahsa Amini mass protests that engulfed over 100 cities beginning in the autumn of 2022. The protests were sparked when Amini was killed while in police custody.

The KDPI was founded by Qazi Mohammad in the Kurdish city of Mahabad on Aug. 16, 1945. Two of its leaders, Abdulrahman Qasimlo and Sadeq Sharafkandi, were assassinated in Europe in Sept. 1992—allegedly by the Iranian regime.

Read more: Who are the Iranian-Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq?