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'Don't attack us or else,' Kurdish
guerrillas warn Iran
30.4.2006
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ANZI, Kurdistan-
Iraq, April 30, 2006 (AFP) , - While Turkish
Kurdish guerrillas based in northeast Iraq continue
to wrestle their foes in Turkey, tensions have been
brewing with neighbouring Iran.
Lodged in northern Iraq in an area flanked by NATO
member Turkey and Washington's foe Iran, elements of
the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have
accused Teheran of attacking their encampments.
The separatists, fighting for the creation of a
Kurdish state in Turkey's southeast, said Iranian
artillery on April 20 bombed their positions in Iraq
killing two fighters and wounding 10 others.
"There is an agreement between Turkey and Iran to
attack our positions," the commander of the group,
Rustom Judi, told AFP in Anzi, a small village in
rugged mountains, located near the Iranian border
some 135 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of
Sulaimaniyah.
"Iranian forces have no reason to do this because
the fighting has been between our men and soldiers
inside Turkey, far from the Iranian border," he
added.
Turkey says some 5,000 armed PKK militants have
found refuge in northern Iraq since 1999, when the
group declared a unilateral ceasefire after the
capture of its leader, Abdullah Ocalan. The truce
was called off in June 2004.
"I warn Iran that their aggression against our
party's positions in Iraq will have consequences,"
Judi said.
A female Kurdish fighter from Syria, Mezkin Jurdit,
added: "Iran has attacked our forces for the past
year, arresting many of us.
"Recently, the Iranians started reinforcing their
military positions on the border," she said. "If
they continue their attacks, we will start a
merciless guerrilla war within Iran.
"Currently our strategy is defensive, but that can
change if the Iranian attacks continue," she said.
In a village near Anzi housing some 50 families,
Iraqi Kurdish locals live in fear of being caught in
the crossfire between the PKK and Iran.
The rebels have until now kept a low profile,
despite establishing checkpoints from which they
monitor signs of any possible Iranian attack.
"We live in fear of the presence of nearby Iranian
troops. It reminds me of our time under Saddam
Hussein," said Haji Mustafa Yunes, referring to
Iraq's ousted leader who waged a decade-long war
against Iran.
The 56-year-old local returned to the village
following Saddam's 1991 loss of control over the
region, since when northern Iraq has been under the
control of the Iraqi Kurds.
His sentiments were echoed by 20-year-old Amanj
Mohammed.
"We're startled by planes because we fear we could
be the target of a bombing," he said.
Iran has accused Kurdish rebels of infiltrating its
territory.
Teheran and Ankara have agreed to help each other
fight both the Kurdish rebels who oppose Turkish
rule and the People's Mujaheedeen, an Iraq-based
group opposing Iran.
Turkey has long urged the United States and Iraq to
root out the PKK from its bases in the mountains of
northern Iraq, but it has been told that violence in
other parts of the conflict-torn country was their
priority.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on
Ankara during a visit last Tuesday to refrain from
unilateral action against the Iraq-based Kurdish
rebels, calling instead for renewed trilateral
cooperation to fight the threat.
Turkey has massed troops along the border to
intensify operations against PKK rebels who are
sneaking into Turkey in growing numbers with the
arrival of spring when snow melts and makes passage
through the mountains easier.
The Kurdish conflict has claimed more than 37,000
lives since the PKK launched its separatist campaign
in 1984.
AFP
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