Fars: 24 Military and Law Enforcement Personnel Killed in Border Attacks Over One Month

Fars News Agency reported on Friday, August 26, that the total number of military and law enforcement personnel killed by armed opponents at the borders in the past month has reached 24. The agency states that according to available statistics, in the past month, 10 operations by opponents occurred in three provinces: Sistan and Baluchestan, Kurdistan, and Kermanshah, resulting in the deaths of 24 military and law enforcement personnel. Fars adds that in fact, in July, security forces had, on average, one killed or injured every day, with the heaviest incident being the attack by PJAK on the village of Daryaroy in Marivan on July 29, which left 11 dead. In recent weeks, armed groups opposed to the Islamic Republic have clashed multiple times with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and law enforcement forces. Four border guards were injured in an attack by a group called 'Eagles of Zagros'. According to reports, in an attack by one of the opposition groups on a border patrol vehicle in Baneh, Kurdistan province, on Thursday evening, August 23, four border guards were injured. Mohammad Fallahi, the governor of Baneh, announced in an interview that this attack occurred on the 'Barde-Bouk' road near the village of 'Abulhasan'. According to Fallahi, the condition of the four injured border guards is 'improving and they have no specific problems'. Hossein Khush-eqbal, the political, security, and social deputy of the Kurdistan governor, also stated that one border guard was 'missing after the clash but returned safely to the border base a few hours later'. Meanwhile, the Kurdish website Kurdpa reported that a group known as 'Eagles of Zagros' claimed responsibility for this attack. This group had previously attacked members of the IRGC. Qasem Rezaei, the commander of the border guard, reported on August 19 that military clashes at the Iranian border had increased fivefold, stating that part of these clashes 'is related to smuggling'. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan announced that in clashes involving their forces on Sunday morning, August 20, seven members of this party and 12 members of the IRGC were killed. However, the IRGC only reported the deaths of 10 members of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan in this clash. On Saturday morning, July 30, 11 members of the IRGC were also killed in clashes with members of the 'PJAK' group in Marivan County. On Friday evening, June 18, in clashes between the IRGC and forces of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan led by Mostafa Hijri in the border area of Oshnavieh in West Azerbaijan province, several were killed and injured. While the IRGC reported the killing and wounding of seven members of the armed opposition group and that all their forces remained safe, some websites reported the deaths of nine IRGC members in this clash. The Islamic Republic of Iran accuses these Kurdish armed groups of 'separatism' and 'connections with foreigners'. On the other hand, these groups accuse the Islamic Republic of violating the rights of Kurds in Iran and state that their goal is to pursue the rights of Kurds.