Ravansar and Sanandaj police station attacks were staged by PJAK militants on April 24 and 25, 2009, targeting Iranian police stations in Ravansar, Kermanshah province and Sanandaj, Kordestan province. The attacks, considered among the most costly for Iranian security forces, resulted in 20 to 26 killed, including at least 10 police officers.
Background
Attacks
On April 24, 2009, PJAK rebels attacked a police station in
Kermanshah province. According to updated reports 18 policemen and 8 rebels were killed in a fierce gun battle.
[Death toll 26 in battle with rebels]
, Gulf Times, May 2009. According to Iranian government sources, the attack resulted in 10 policemen and 10 rebels killed.
[ According to Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research, the attack, which occurred on April 24 and 25, involved PJAK attacks on two police stations in the cities of Ravansar in northern Kermanshah province and in Sanandaj, the capital of Kordestan province, killing eleven police officers, with more than ten PJAK members reportedly killed.
]
Aftermath
Iran responded a week later by attacking Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
villages in the border area of Panjwin inside Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
using helicopter gunships. According to Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
i border guards officials, the area attacked by Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
was not considered a stronghold of PJAK, that appeared to have been the target of the raid. According to the ICRC, more than 800 Iraqi Kurds have been forced from their homes by the recent cross-border violence.Iran helicopters strike Iraq Kurd villages
AFP, May 2009.
See also
*
Iranian Kurdistan
References
{{Reflist, 2
2009 in Iran
Attacks on police stations in the 2000s
Battles involving Iran
Conflicts in 2009
Iran–PJAK conflict
April 2009 events in Asia