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Iran: 20 Killed in Clashes Between IRGC, Kurdish Group

Soldiers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) parade in Tehran. (AFP)
Soldiers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) parade in Tehran. (AFP)
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Iran: 20 Killed in Clashes Between IRGC, Kurdish Group

Soldiers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) parade in Tehran. (AFP)
Soldiers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) parade in Tehran. (AFP)

At least 20 people were killed in armed clashes between Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a Kurdish group opposed to the Iranian regime on the border between Iran, Turkey and the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

Reports varied concerning the reason for the clashes and number of losses between both sides. IRGC’s news agency Fars reported that the clashes were against a group that planned to enter the country through the bordering region of Oshnavieh (in Kurdistan province). Whereas, state-owned agency IRNA cited IRGC’s Hamzeh base saying that the Iranian forces dismantled an armed cell in the southwestern Iranian province of Azerbaijan.

IRGC killed 10 armed men carrying equipment in the Oshnavieh border area as they attempted to enter Iran, according to IRNA.

The corps issued a statement confirming the incident, but did not mention the identity of the armed group, rather described it as “affiliated to the world arrogant powers and the foreign intelligence services” that planned to enter the country to “foment insecurity and conduct acts of sabotage”.

Reports by official Iranian agencies did not mention the number of casualties among the IRGC, but operation assistant at Hamzeh base denied in a statement to Fars the reports saying that none of the troops was injured or killed in the fighting.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) announced on its Twitter account that heavy clashes erupted between Kurdistan’s Peshmerga Forces and Iran’s IRGC outside Shno (Oshnavie) in eastern Kurdistan. “The clash lasted for 5 hours and according to initial reports 12 IRGC terrorists were killed,” it added.

The Party did not comment on official Iranian reports about the killing of its members.

Hamzeh base is responsible for securing Iran's border with Turkey and the Kurdistan region of Iraq, extending 200 kilometers from the western province of Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Kermanshah to northern areas of the western province of Ilam.

PDKI was founded in October 1945 by Kurdish leader Qadi Mohammad in the city of Mahabad, raising the slogan "Autonomy of Kurdistan of Iran" and the right to self-determination.

Iran targeted party leaders twice after the 1979 revolution: the first in June 1989, when gunmen attacked Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou and several Kurdish politicians in Vienna. Few years later, on Sept. 17, 1992, gunmen posing as negotiators killed Sadegh Sharafkandi, the party's secretary-general, and a number of party leaders at a restaurant in Berlin.

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FBI Finds 150 Homemade Bombs at Virginia Home in One of Largest Such Seizures

The seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seen on the Headquarters in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP)
The seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seen on the Headquarters in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP)
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FBI Finds 150 Homemade Bombs at Virginia Home in One of Largest Such Seizures

The seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seen on the Headquarters in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP)
The seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seen on the Headquarters in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP)

Federal agents found one of the largest stockpiles of homemade explosives they have ever seized when they arrested a Virginia man on a firearms charge last month, according to a court filing by federal prosecutors.

Investigators seized more than 150 pipe bombs and other homemade devices when they searched the home of Brad Spafford northwest of Norfolk in December, the prosecutors said in a motion filed Monday. The prosecutors wrote that this is believed to be "the largest seizure by number of finished explosive devices in FBI history."

Most of the bombs were found in a detached garage at the home in Isle of Wight County, along with tools and bomb-making materials including fuses and pieces of plastic pipe, according to court documents. The prosecutors also wrote: "Several additional apparent pipe bombs were found in a backpack in the home’s bedroom, completely unsecured," in the home he shares with his wife and two young children.

Spafford, 36, was charged with possession of a firearm in violation of the National Firearms Act. Law enforcement officers allege he owned an unregistered short barrel rifle. Prosecutors said that he faces "numerous additional potential charges" related to the explosives.

Defense attorneys argued in a motion Tuesday that authorities haven't produced evidence that he was planning violence, also noting that he has no criminal record. Further, they question whether the explosive devices were usable because "professionally trained explosive technicians had to rig the devices to explode them."

"There is not a shred of evidence in the record that Mr. Spafford ever threatened anyone and the contention that someone might be in danger because of their political views and comments is nonsensical," the defense lawyers wrote.

Messages were left Wednesday seeking further comment from the defense lawyers who signed the motion, Lawrence Woodward and Jerry Swartz.

The investigation began in 2023 when an informant told authorities that Spafford was stockpiling weapons and ammunition, according to court documents. The informant, a friend, told authorities Spafford had disfigured his hand in 2021 while working on homemade explosives. Prosecutors said he only has two fingers on his right hand.

The informant told authorities that Spafford was using pictures of the president, an apparent reference to President Joe Biden, for target practice and that "he believed political assassinations should be brought back," prosecutors wrote.

Numerous law enforcement officers and bomb technicians searched the property on Dec. 17. The agents located the rifle and the explosive devices, some of which had been hand-labeled as "lethal" and some of which were loaded into a wearable vest, court documents state. Technicians detonated most of the devices on site because they were deemed unsafe to transport, though several were kept for analysis.

At a hearing Tuesday, federal Magistrate Judge Lawrence Leonard determined that Spafford could be released into house arrest at his mother's home but agreed to keep him detained while the government files further arguments.

In response, prosecutors reiterated why they believe Spafford is dangerous, writing that "while he is not known to have engaged in any apparent violence, he has certainly expressed interest in the same, through his manufacture of pope bombs marked ‘lethal,’ his possession of riot gear and a vest loaded with pipe bombs, his support for political assassinations and use of the pictures of the President for target practice."