Key facts
- Iran's Revolutionary Guards stated they killed five members of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI).
- The operation took place in mountainous border areas near Piranshahr in West Azerbaijan province.
- The PDKI has been engaged in intermittent conflict with the Iranian government for decades.
- A separate incident on Monday resulted in the deaths of two Revolutionary Guards and injuries to two others in Kermanshah province.
- A newly formed Kurdish group claimed responsibility for the Kermanshah attack.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced on Thursday that they had killed five members of the banned Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) in the country's northwest. The Guards stated the group was ambushed after entering Iranian territory in mountainous border areas near Piranshahr in West Azerbaijan province, though the exact timing of the operation was not specified. A Norway-based Kurdish rights group, Hengaw, reported that clashes occurred on Wednesday evening.
The PDKI has a long history of intermittent conflict with the Islamic Republic, and Tehran views Kurdish armed groups as separatist threats. The report comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and Kurdish militant groups.
Separately, state media reported on Tuesday that the Revolutionary Guards killed six members of what they described as an "opposition and separatist group" in a similar incident near Piranshahr. On the same day, state media also reported that two members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were killed and two wounded in a shooting in Kermanshah province on Monday evening. Hengaw reported that a newly formed Kurdish armed group claimed responsibility for the Kermanshah attack, stating it was in retaliation for the Guards' actions during the 2022-2023 protest movement.