Komala base hit by Iranian missiles, 8 Kurdish fighters killed

SULAIMANI, Iraqi Kurdistan region,— At least eight fighters from the Kurdish opposition group Komala Toilers of Iranian Kurdistan (Komełey Şorrişgêrrî Zehmetkêşanî Kurdistanî Êran) were killed and several more wounded after Iran fired six missiles at the group’s base in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region on Friday, the group’s Central Committee said.

A Central Committee member said the missiles struck Zirgwêz, a border area in Sulaimani province in Iraqi Kurdistan, early Friday morning. The strike killed at least eight Peshmerga fighters and injured a number of others.

Additional Peshmerga members from Iranian Kurdistan were also hurt in the attack, based on information gathered so far.

The Central Committee member told Voice of America that crews had not yet been able to fully recover the bodies from inside caves at the site because of the strike’s damage.

Separately, several drones were shot down over Erbil in the early hours of Friday. No injuries were reported from that incident.

Komala has fought against the Iranian government for decades. The group took part in the 1979 Kurdish uprising and later in the Iran-Iraq War.

Since the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979, it has enforced rules that Kurdish groups say discriminate against Kurds in Iranian Kurdistan across social, political and economic life.

Kurds in Iran say they face restrictions on religious, economic and cultural rights.

Parents are barred from giving children certain Kurdish names, and religious minorities with Kurdish populations face measures meant to isolate and stigmatize them, according to Kurdish rights groups.

Kurds also report barriers to jobs, housing and political participation, which have left many in long-term poverty.

More than 12 million Kurds are estimated to live in Iranian Kurdistan (Eastern Kurdistan, Rojhelat Kurdistan).