Reuters: Iran said on Friday Kurdish rebel group PJAK killed a commander of the Revolutionary Guards during clashes in a western region of the Islamic state, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
TEHRAN, Sept 9 (Reuters) – Iran said on Friday Kurdish rebel group PJAK killed a commander of the Revolutionary Guards during clashes in a western region of the Islamic state, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
“Brigadier General Abbasali Jannesari was martyred during clashes with the PJAK terrorist group in the western parts of the country,” said Fars.
PJAK is an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which took up arms in 1984 to fight for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey. Both Tehran and Washington have called PJAK a terrorist organisation.
In the past few months, Iranian security forces have launched an offensive against PJAK in mountainous areas bordering Iraq.
The elite Revolutionary Guards said a ceasefire declared by PJAK would be “meaningless” if the group refused to withdraw its forces from the Islamic Republic. (Writing by Ramin Mostafavi; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
