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Two Iranian policemen killed in Kurdistan
shootings
26.3.2011 |
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March 26, 2011
SANANDAJ, Iranian Kurdistan, — Two
Iranian policemen were shot dead and three other
people wounded in what authorities said on Friday
were two "terrorist" attacks in Iran's Kurdistan
province near the border with Iraqi Kurdistan, news
agencies said.
The shootings occurred in the city of Sanandaj [Sina]
on Thursday night. The official news agency IRNA
said assailants used Kalashnikov assault rifles in
their attacks on police.
Ali-Reza Shahbazi, governor of Kurdistan province
said the "terrorist acts" were aimed at "making the
region insecure and stopping the course of
investment and development".
No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Security forces in the west of Iran often clash with
guerrillas from PJAK, an offshoot of the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK),www.ekurd.netwhich
took up arms in 1984 for an autonomous homeland in
southeast Turkey [Turkey Kurdistan] and shelters in
Iraq's northeastern border provinces.
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Since
2004 the PJAK took up arms for self-rule in Kurdistan province northwestern
of Iran |
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Like Iraq and Turkey, Iran has a large Kurdish
minority, mainly living in the northwest and west.
Iran rejects allegations by Western rights groups
that it discriminates against ethnic and religious
minorities. Most Iranian Kurds are Sunni Muslims.
The PJAK, or the (Partiya Jiyana Azad a Kurdistane) (Party of Free Life of
Kurdistan), is a militant Kurdish nationalist group based in Kurdistan region in
Iraq's north that
has been carrying out attacks Iranian forces in the Kurdistan Province of Iran
(Eastern Kurdistan) and other Kurdish-inhabited areas.
PJAK is a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Confederation (Koma Civaken
Kurdistan or KCK), which is an alliance of Kurdish groups and divisions
led by an elected Executive Council.
Led by Haji Ahmadi, the PJAK’s objective is to establish a semi-autonomous
regional entities or Kurdish federal states in Iran, Turkey and Syria similar to
the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq.
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.
Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey all have significant
ethnic Kurdish minorities. Estimate to 12 million
Kurds live in Iran.
Copyright, respective
author or news agency,
Reuters | ekurd.net | agencies
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