Kurdistan Democratic Party Accuses Tehran of Killing 2 of its Members in Iraqi Kurdistan

Smoke rises from the headquarters of the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iraqi Kurdistan, after an IRGC attack on the outskirts of Kirkuk, September 28, 2022 (Reuters)
Smoke rises from the headquarters of the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iraqi Kurdistan, after an IRGC attack on the outskirts of Kirkuk, September 28, 2022 (Reuters)
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Kurdistan Democratic Party Accuses Tehran of Killing 2 of its Members in Iraqi Kurdistan

Smoke rises from the headquarters of the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iraqi Kurdistan, after an IRGC attack on the outskirts of Kirkuk, September 28, 2022 (Reuters)
Smoke rises from the headquarters of the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iraqi Kurdistan, after an IRGC attack on the outskirts of Kirkuk, September 28, 2022 (Reuters)

The Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party has announced that two of its members in the Kurdistan region of Iraq were killed by a group loyal to Iran.

In a statement, the party said on Friday that a premeditated attack was carried out by the group in the south of the region, targeting a number of party members and leaving Adel Muhajir and Luqman Aji dead.

The party condemned the attack and called on the Iraqi government and the regional government to “take a firm stand against the terrorist acts committed by Iran.”

However, the statement did not mention the name of the group that carried out the operation.

Last year, Iran launched several attacks inside Iraqi territory in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region, using ballistic missiles and drones and targeting what it said were Kurdish groups accused of being involved in protests.

In one of the operations, Iran said it was targeting an oil trader suspected of transporting Kurdistan region’s oil to Israel and running armed groups attacking facilities in Iran.

Iran accuses the Iraqi Kurdistan region of harboring opposition movements and groups, such as the Kurdish (Komala) movement and elements of the People’s Mujahedin Organization.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Terrorism Body in Iraq announced on Friday that five ISIS members were killed in a security operation carried out by its forces in Kirkuk, 250 km north of Baghdad.

At the end of 2017, Iraq announced the elimination of ISIS from the country, but the organization remains active in some areas.



Blinken again Says Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Deal is ‘Very Close’

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken speaks to the media on the sidelines of a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi in Tokyo, Japan, 07 January 2025. EPA/TAKASHI AOYAMA/POOL
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken speaks to the media on the sidelines of a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi in Tokyo, Japan, 07 January 2025. EPA/TAKASHI AOYAMA/POOL
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Blinken again Says Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Deal is ‘Very Close’

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken speaks to the media on the sidelines of a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi in Tokyo, Japan, 07 January 2025. EPA/TAKASHI AOYAMA/POOL
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken speaks to the media on the sidelines of a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi in Tokyo, Japan, 07 January 2025. EPA/TAKASHI AOYAMA/POOL

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is again saying that a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas is “very close” and he hopes “we can get it over the line” before handing over US diplomacy to the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
“In area after area, we’re handing off, in some cases, things that we haven’t been able to complete but that create real opportunities to move things forward in a better way,” he said Wednesday on a stop in Paris for meetings.
Blinken said that even if the Biden administration's plans for a ceasefire and hostage deal don’t come to fruition before Trump’s inauguration, he thinks they’ll be put into practice afterward.
“I believe that when we get that deal – and we’ll get that deal – it will be on the basis of the plans that President Biden put before the world,” he said.
Israel’s military says troops have recovered the body of an additional hostage from Gaza. The body of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza, 53-year-old Yosef AlZayadni, was recovered in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza, the military said Wednesday. It said it was examining whether a second body was that of another hostage.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier a second hostage's body had been recovered: AlZayadni’s son Hamzah.
The men were taken captive during Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023. The return of the body comes as Israel and Hamas are considering a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Israel believes a third of the remaining 100 hostages are dead. However, AlZayadni was believed to still be alive before Wednesday’s announcement.
AlZayadni, who had 19 children, had worked at a dairy in southern Israel’s Kibbutz Holit for 17 years, said the Hostages Family Forum, a group representing the families of captives. AlZayadni was kidnapped with three of his children. His teenage kids, Bilal and Aisha, were released in a weeklong ceasefire deal in November.
The family are members of the Bedouin community, part of Israel’s Palestinian minority who have Israeli citizenship.