Commander: Iraqi Gov't Underlines PJAK's Terrorist Nature

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraq's central government is not only aware of, but also insistent on the terrorist nature of the PJAK group, Commander of Iran's Border Guard Units General Hossein Zolfaqari said on Tuesday.
"Iraqis call PJAK a terrorist grouplet and consider its activities as illegal. Generally speaking, the central government (of Iraq) is opposed to the group," Zolfaqari told reporters in a press conference in Tehran today.

Meantime, he lamented that the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) unfortunately lacks the necessary and appropriate capability to control the PJAK terrorist group, and said Tehran has called on Iraq's central government to fortify its forces in Kurdistan region.

Members of the PJAK terrorist group - an offshoot of the PKK - regularly engage in armed clashes with Iranian security forces along the country's western borders with Iraq's Kurdistan region.

PJAK launches its attacks from Iraq's Qandil Mountains in the areas under the control of Kurdistan Regional Government.

The PJAK and PKK had previously laid mines in Sardasht heights near Iran's border with Iraq.

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) deployed 5,000 military forces in the northwest of the country along its common border with Iraqi Kurdistan, and has been fighting the PJAK terrorist group over the past weeks in order to establish security and stability in the area.

Through the efforts of Iranian forces, security has been restored to some extent in the region.