Kurds flee homes as Iran shells villages in Iraq
The Guardian
Iraqi Kurdish officials expressed deepening concern yesterday at an upsurge in fierce clashes between Kurdish guerrillas and Iranian forces in the remote border area of north-east Iraq, where Tehran has recently deployed thousands of Revolutionary Guards.
Jabar Yawar, a deputy minister in the Kurdistan regional government, said four days of intermittent shelling by Iranian forces had hit mountain villages high up on the Iraqi side of the border, wounding two women, destroying livestock and property, and displacing about 1,000 people from their homes. Mr Yawer said there had also been intense fighting on the Iraqi border between Iranian forces and guerrillas of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), an armed Iranian Kurdish group that is stepping up its campaign for Kurdish rights against the theocratic regime in Tehran.
On Saturday the Iranian news agency Mehr said an Iranian army helicopter which crashed killing six Republican Guard members had been engaged in a military operation against PJAK. Iranian officials said the helicopter had crashed into the side of a mountain during bad weather in northern Iraq. PJAK sources said the helicopter had been destroyed after it attempted to land in a clearing mined by guerrillas. The PJAK sources claimed its guerrillas had also killed at least five other Iranian soldiers, and a local pro-regime chief, Hussein Bapir.
“If this escalates it could pose a real threat to the Kurdistan region, which is Iraq’s most stable area,” said Mr Yawar, who said he expected the Iraqi government and US officials in Iraq to make a formal protest to Tehran about the “blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty”.
The escalation of tensions in northern Iraq came as a senior US army officer renewed allegations of Iranian support for Shia militias in the south. Major-General Rick Lynch told reporters in the capital that up to 50 members of the elite Revolutionary Guard corps had crossed into Iraq and were training Shia militia members.
Analysts believe PJAK is the fastest growing armed resistance group in Iran. As well as the 3,000 or so members under arms in the mountains, it also claims tens of thousands of followers in secret cells in Iranian Kurdistan. Its campaigning on women’s rights has struck a chord with young Iranian Kurdish women. The group says 45% of its fighters are female. Iranian authorities regard the group as a terrorist outfit being sponsored and armed by the US to increase pressure on Iran.
On a recent visit to PJAK camps in the Qandil mountains the Guardian saw no evidence of American weaponry. The majority of its fighters toted Soviet-era Kalashnikovs. In an interview Biryar Gabar, a member of the leadership committee, said the group had no relations with the Americans, but was “open to any group that shares our ideals of a free federal democratic and secular Iran.”
I would be cautious about assertions made which are not backed by evidence, Ted. Nonetheless, the increased mentioning of the Kurds in the press in recent months has got me curious….
B Poster says:
No more interesting than it has been on the numerous occassions such theatrics have occurred since 1978/79.
Poster seems to know something the rest of us don’t. What “coming [Iranian] attack on the American homeland.”?
Where is this “coup” supposed to take place? For what purpose?
But the US Establishment – with a multi-billion dollar intelligence infrastructure at its disposal – doesn’t, or can’t do anything to prevent it, I suppose Poster’s suggesting? Just more silly oversights by the foolish Bush administration, perhaps?
Actually, the US intelligence networks (not “the Americans” per se) are expert at them – and media “scrutiny” is essential for their success. Providing, of course, that said scrutiny is confined to the false flags, not the real ones and that the media play their normal role of providing (dis)information overload thus inducing cognitive dissonance in the target audiences.
https://www.israpundit.org/2006/?p=4291#comment-101982
The “evidence” cited for US pressure on Iran is from Iranian officials themselves. Meaning no disrespect to anyone but Iranian officials are among the least reliable sources one could quote. Even the Guardian, a generally anti American publication could find no evidence of American involvement.
If the Americans were involved, they would likely work to coneal their involvement. All of these policies need to be considered in light of America’s soon coming complete and total withdrawl from Iraq. If the Americans were going to engage Iran, it would be through proxies. In other words, the American military will not be involved. For better or worse, the Americans will not be engaging Iran unless Iran or its terrorist proxies attackt he American homeland. The American leadership is DESPARATE to repair its world wide imagae. As scuh, there will be no attack on Iran of any type by the Americans.
The accusations by the Iranians are interesting. The Iranians are doing what has been known as prepping the battle field. They are accusing the Americans of trying to undermine their government. They are trying to plant the seeds for Iran’s coming attack on the American homeland. I think the Iranians may stage a coup or something like this right before their attack. In other words, I expect an Iranian “false flag” operation. False flag operations are impossible for the Americans to pull off becuase the media scrutiny they are under from the national and international media is too intense.
I chose the title as I believe that in fact is happening. I have read about it on a number of occasions.
Perhaps I’m missing something, but….
and
….how does any of this – or any other part of the article – represent evidence that the “US ups the pressure on Iran”??