Recalling the recent terrorist attack in Norway, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ramin Mehmanparast said at a weekly press conference on Tuesday that “the direct or secondhand sheltering of terrorists will bear negative results for many countries, particularly in Europe” and reiterated his country's request for the arrest and return of a PJAK leader who is claimed to be free in Germany. “The sheltering of terrorists is endangering the international community,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have been engaged in a clash with PJAK for more than 10 days, killing dozens of terrorists and capturing many others as part of an operation to crack down on the terrorist organization, the state-run Press TV network reported. The TV station also reported that the wounded terrorists were being transported to hospitals by PJAK in the city of Arbil, located within the northern Kurdish region of Iraq. The Revolutionary Guards also suffered a total of seven casualties during the clashes, the reports stated.
The Land Forces Command of the Revolutionary Guards announced that the clashes will continue until the region is completely rid of PJAK terrorists, as reinforcements amounting to 5,000 guards were placed along border to contribute to the effort.
Regional Iraqi Kurdish officials claimed that the heavy bombardment by Iranian forces targeting the mountainous border zone forced a displacement of civilians residing along the border and killed two villagers in the process. The fleeing villagers settled in tents further away from the border, leaving their livestock and homes behind in fear of the Iranian shelling.
Iranian guards have long fought against PJAK terrorists whose logistics are supplied from bases located in the zone where the borders of Iran, Iraq and Turkey meet. PJAK, a subsidiary of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which engages in terrorist activities within Turkey to establish an autonomous Kurdish region, is deemed a terrorist organization both by Iran and the United States.
