Three Kurdish rebels are brutally killed by Iranian security forces near the border of Iraq.
Three Kurdish rebels are brutally killed by Iranian security forces near the border of Iraq.
By Greg Kell
Nov 8, 2007 14:48 PM GMT
Iranian security forces have murdered three Kurdish rebels saying they were members of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan. The killing occurred in the country's Kurdistan province bordering Iraq. Iran says the selective group is directly supported by the United States and Germany and is part of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) movement that is fighting neighbouring Turkey. Iran alleges that the United States is supporting Kurdish guerrillas operating out of northern Iraq. Iran also stated that American generals approve of their activities.
Turkey has nearly 100,000 troops on its border with Iraq which is causing clashes in recent days. The PJAK rebels, like the PKK, have bases in the remote mountains of northeastern Iraq. The PKK has 3,000 guerrillas in the region.President Bush told Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Monday that Washington was decisively committed to countering the PKK. Iran hopes for a peaceful solution in the region, but experts say they have no fundamental reason to be near the vital war conflict. The United States has strongly urged Turkey not to carry out a major offensive, fearing it could destabilise northern Iraq and escalate into a bigger regional crisis. Iran, which like Turkey has a Kurdish minority, has said it eventually wants a peaceful end to Turkey's stand-off with rebel Kurds in northern Iraq.
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