|
Fresh clashes erupt in Kurdish region of
Iran
4.8.2005
|
|
|
|
TEHRAN, Aug 4 (AFP)
- 13h46 - Fresh clashes erupted in Iran's northwest
Kurdish region on Wednesday as rioters ravaged
public buildings amid unconfirmed reports that
several people had been killed.
The Iranian judiciary also closed down two Kurdish
newspapers.
"Disturbances took place in Saghez," some 400
kilometres (250 miles) west of Tehran, a Kurdish
official told AFP on Thursday.
"According to my information public buildings and
stores were attacked," he said, adding he was not
aware of any casualties.
However, the conservative Internet site Baztab
reported that a ceremonial gathering place for
religious Shiites had been torched and "several
people were wounded or killed."
A security official quoted by Iran's official news
agency IRNA said "rioters attacked and damaged
public buildings, banks and stores."
But he added that security forces had restored calm
to the area.
The conservative daily Joumhouri Eslami said the
perpetrators were "a group called the Organisation
of Fighting Students that attacked stores, banks and
official buildings.
"They threw rocks and other objects at banks and
even attacked the Saghez prefecture," it said.
"Security forces fired on them when two
troublemakers tried to take soldiers' weapons," the
newspaper said.
The judiciary in the nearby city of Sanandaj closed
down two Kurdish newspapers. The daily Achti and the
weekly Assou were forbidden from operating, the
student-run news agency ISNA said.
Iran's population is 90 percent Shiite, whereas
Kurds are mainly Sunni Muslims and make up about
seven percent of the Islamic republic's population.
Kurdish regions in Iran have seen unrest and
agitation in recent months.
Following the inauguration of former rebel leader
Massoud Barzani in June as the first president of
neighbouring Iraqi Kurdistan, hundreds of jubilant
Kurdish demonstrators clashed with police on the
streets.
In July, a young Kurdish man who was wanted by
police was shot and killed during his arrest in the
Kurdish stronghold of Mahabad.
Subsequent clashes between residents and police
killed one policeman and resulted in dozens of
arrests.
AFP
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 