Iranian faction among Kurds trained by US against militants

KHARABRUD, Iraq (AP) — An Iranian Kurdish rebel group received military training in weapons and explosives from U.S. and European advisers as part of the international program backing Kurds in the war against the Islamic State group in Iraq, the group’s commander told The Associated Press.

The group, called the Kurdistan Freedom Party, is one of several Iranian Kurdish factions that have carried out attacks this year inside Iran, sparking a crackdown by security forces. At the same time, the group has been fighting alongside Iraqi Kurds against Islamic State group militants in northern Iraq.

The training is a further twist in the complex web of alliances and enmities swirling around the wars in Iraq and Syria. Iran is a powerful backer of the Iraqi government and Iraqi Shiite militias against the Islamic State group. It appeared that the Iranian faction made its way into the training because it is officially under the umbrella of the Iraqi Kurdish forces.

But any training of Iranian insurgents, even indirectly through the anti-IS campaign, could alarm Tehran, which remains a top rival of Washington and U.S. allies in the region despite their common cause in fighting the militants in Iraq and despite last year’s nuclear deal. Speaking to The Associated Press this week, the Kurdistan Freedom Party’s commander Hussein Yazdanpana said he recognized that the training was for the fight against IS.

“They helped and trained us within the framework of the fight against Daesh,” or the Islamic State group, he said.

But he said his group, known by the Kurdish acronym PAK, would continue attacks in Iran, adding that the fight against IS “was never an alternative to their struggle” against the Iranian government. Yazdanpana said his group has launched six attacks inside of Iran this year alone.

Iranian Kurdish fighters have waged an onagain, off-again insurgency in mainly Kurdish areas of northwestern Iran near the Iraqi border, complaining of discrimination by Tehran and demanding independence for Kurds. This year has seen a new surge in attacks and clashes between the fighters and Iranian security forces, including the elite Revolutionary Guard, leading to casualties on both sides.