Kurdish PDKI Peshmerga commander is assassinated

A Peshmerga commander affiliated to the PDKI (Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan), identified as Qadir Qadiri, was found dead on Wednesday in a village near the Kudish/Iranian border. The IPDK has claimed that Qadiri was assassinated by the Iranian government. Qadiri’s body was found in the village of Hartal according to Ibrahim Zewayee who is head of the foreign office of the PDK; Hartal is in Raniya near Sulaymaniah. An investigation has been started by the KRG (Kurdish Regional Government) in response to the death.

 The PDKI stated publicly that Qadiri was on his way to visit the, “Balisan-Chwarqurna front,” in his personal vehicle when he was killed. He had been forcibly removed from his vehicle and had been shot twenty-one times according to the statement released by the PDKI. The party said, “We hold the Islamic Republic of Iran and its mercenaries responsible for the assassination of our brave comrade,” adding that it was on part of a plague of, “terrorist acts,” perpetuated by Iran and it’s proxies towards the Kurdish people and their respective political parties. The Raniya police confirmed the number of gunshots and revealed that they had found the body in a nearby graveyard; the fatal wounds were inflicted with a Kalashnikov, that was coincidentally left at the crime scene next to the body.

 The PDKI has suffered a series of bombings over the past few years as well as a series of anonymous threats. Just recently earlier this month a father and son, Peshmerga with the PDKI, were injured in a car bomb blast outside their residence. Iran has formally denied any involvement with the attacks in wake of the allegations made by the PDKI. The PDK and PDKI separated in 2006 but have made efforts this year to maintain communication and a unified identity despite the split.