January
27, 2010
TEHRAN,—
Iranian armed forces have arrested the alleged
killer of a
local prosecutor
after they clashed with Kurdish PJAK rebels, a
senior provincial official was quoted as saying
Wednesday by local media.
The governor general of West Azerbaijan province in
Iranian Kurdistan, Vahid Jalalzadeh, said that
during clashes between Iranian forces and members of
PJAK, "the person behind the assassination of Khoy
prosecutor was identified and arrested."
He said the clashes took place Monday night and
added that several PJAK members were killed in the
fighting which occurred close to "a border."
Jalalzadeh did not reveal on which border the
clashes occurred as West Azerbaijan (Eastern
Kurdistan) has borders with Iraqi Kurdistan region
(Southern Kurdistan),www.ekurd.netTurkey
and Azerbaijan.
On January 19, Fakhrali Nikbakht, a local interior
ministry official said that four people had been
arrested over the gunning down of Vali
Haji-Gholizadeh, the prosecutor of the northwestern
town of Khoy.
Iranian officials had previously claimed that the
prosecutor was killed by PJAK.
Iran sees PJAK, which seeks autonomy for Kurdish
areas in Iran (Eastern Kurdistan) and shelters in
Iraqi Kurdistan border provinces.
The PJAK, or the (Partiya Jiyana Azad a Kurdistane) (Party of Free Life of
Kurdistan),www.ekurd.netis a militant Kurdish nationalist group based in northern Iraq that
has been carrying out attacks Iranian forces in the Kurdistan Province of Iran and other Kurdish-inhabited areas.
Since
2004 the PJAK took up arms for self-rule in Kurdistan province northwestern of
Iran (Iranian Kurdistan, Eastern Kurdistan). Half the members of PJAK
are women. The PJAK has about 3,000 armed
militiamen.
The United States on February 4, 2009 added the Iranian Kurdish PJAK militant group
opposed to Iran
to its list of terrorist
organizations.
Northwestern Iran (Eastern Kurdistan), which has a
sizeable Kurdish population, has seen deadly
fighting in recent years between Iranian security
forces and PJAK members as well as other Kurdish
rebels operating from bases in neighbouring Iraq.
Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey all have significant
ethnic Kurdish minorities. Estimate to 12 million
Kurds live in Iran, mainly live in the provinces of
West Azerbaijan, Kermanshah.
Copyright,
respective author or news agency, AFP | Agencies
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