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Iran: Kurdish rebel group said it had shot
down military helicopter
25.2.2007
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February 25, 2007
TEHRAN ,-- An Iranian military helicopter
crashed near the border with Turkey and
Iraqi-Kurdistan on Saturday, killing at least one
Revolutionary Guards commander, Iranian news
agencies said.
Eight other people were on board the aircraft when
it came down, the semi-official Mehr agency said,
but it was not immediately clear whether those eight
were killed or injured in the crash.
"This morning while on a mission in the northwestern
province of West Azerbaijan the commander Saeed
Ghahari was martyred in a helicopter crash," the
semi-official Fars news agency Fars said without
giving a source.
An Iranian Kurdish rebel group said it had shot down
the aircraft, the Brussels-based Kurdish news agency
Firat said.
It said the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK),
an Iranian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
which is fighting Turkey, shot down the helicopter
with a shoulder-held missile, killing eight soldiers
and capturing one.
Iran's official IRNA news agency said 17 rebels were
killed by the Revolutionary Guards during the
mission in the province before the crash.
Clashes between Iranian forces and PJAK militants
have been reported in recent weeks in the region
where the borders of Iran, Turkey and Iraq meet.
PJAK rebels have bases in the remote mountains of
Kurdistan region (northeastern Iraq) from where they
launch attacks.
Various Iranian Kurdish rebel groups have fought a
low-level conflict against Tehran for many decades
claiming neglect and discrimination by central
government.
Iran operates an ageing fleet of aircraft mostly
dating from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Reuters
**
Iranian Kurdistan (Kurdish: Kurdistana Îranę or
Kurdistana Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) or Rojhilatę
Kurdistan (East of Kurdistan)) is an unofficial name
for the parts of Iran inhabited by Kurds and has
borders with Iraq and Turkey.
It includes the
greater parts of West Azerbaijan province, Kurdistan
Province, Kermanshah Province, and Ilam Province.
Kurds form the majority of the population of this
region with an estimated population of 4 million.
The region is the eastern part of the greater
cultural-geographical area called Kurdistan.
More about Iranian Kurdistan
The present leader of the organisation is Haji
Ahmadi. According to the Washington Times, half the
members of PJAK are women, many of them still in
their teens, and one of the female members of the
leadership council is Gulistan Dugan, a psychology
graduate from the University of Tehran. This is due
primarily to the fact that PJAK is strongly
supportive of women's rights. PJAK believes that
women must have a strong role in government and must
be on an equal level with men in leadership
positions.
More about KDPI- Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate as many as 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan but
unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag is
banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it is
a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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