Iranian Kurd opposition party in Iraq accuses Iran of attack on HQ

by AFP Staff Writers
Erbil, Iraq (AFP) Jan 21, 2026
An Iranian Kurdish opposition party headquartered in Iraq accused Iran on Wednesday of conducting a rocket and drone attack on its premises, killing one of its members and wounding two others.

"At dawn today, the occupying Iranian state... targeted one of the Kurdistan National Army's headquarters" using missiles and drones, said the Kurdistan Freedom Party, referring to an armed group that operates under its authority.

The attack, it said, killed a member of the party and injured two others.

"We believe the reason we were targeted is because of our activities, particularly our calls for people in Iran to protest against the regime, and especially because we also have an organised and trained military force," a party official told AFP.

The Kurdistan Freedom Party, founded in 1991 in Iran, includes fighters who took part in battles in Iraq against the Islamic State group.

Since the 1980s, when Iraq was under the rule of Saddam Hussein, several Iranian Kurdish opposition parties have built up a presence in Iraq.

Hussein's forces went on to carry out massacres against members of the Iraqi Kurd population that were broadly recognised as genocide.

He used the presence of Iranian Kurd groups as part of his strategy to fight the Iranian authorities.

Iran classifies the groups as "terrorists" and separatist groups, and regularly accuses them of carrying out attacks against Iranian forces.

In recent weeks, Iran saw mass protests that posed the most serious challenge to the theocratic leadership in place since 1979.

The momentum of the protests has waned in recent days following a deadly crackdown, with Iranian authorities calling the demonstrators "rioters".

In 2022, during another wave of protests sparked by the death in custody of an Iranian Kurdish woman named Mahsa Amini, Iran also struck the headquarters of Iranian opposition groups in Iraqi Kurdistan.

"To the occupying enemy," the Kurdistan Freedom Party said, addressing the Iranian government. "The sons of Kurdistan will never bow before its attacks and pressure, and struggle for freedom and independence will only become more resolute and enduring."

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