First shots of Iran ground war fired as Tehran hits CIA-backed forces | World | News
Iranian forces hit the headquarters of a Kurdish armed group on the Iraqi border, Iran Press TV reported on Wednesday.
State broadcaster Press TV broadcast footage on channel X showing nighttime explosions during what it described as an operation against “anti-Iran separatist forces”, but did not specify the exact locations hit.
Independent reports pointed to multiple explosions in Sulaymaniyah province in northern Iraq, which local sources said targeted the headquarters of the Kurdistan Workers Association Komala, an Iranian Kurdish armed group.
The attacks came after the Express reported that Kurdish coalition groups lined up along the Iran-Iraq border had been advancing fighters in preparation for cross-border operations in recent days, seeking American guidance on the feasibility and timing of any move against Iranian security forces in the west of the country.
Tehran’s own Tasnim news agency disputed claims that Kurdish fighters had already set foot on Iranian soil.
The Express reported late Wednesday that the long-awaited attack on Iran had apparently begun, with thousands of Kurdish fighters moving through Iraq in what intelligence sources described as a CIA-backed operation; but the picture on the ground was deeply controversial.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi raised the alarm in his telephone conversation with Bafel Talabani, head of the Patriotic Union of Iraqi Kurdistan, and warned that “terrorist movements” were intensifying on the Iraqi border; This meeting was later confirmed by Tehran’s foreign ministry as having taken place.
A US official speaking to Fox News made it clear: Thousands of Iraqi Kurds were attacking Iran.
A senior figure from the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan gave i24News a precise timeline: “Military movements of Kurdish forces on the ground against Iran have already started from midnight on March 2.”
The same source reported that Iranian troops withdrew from the border city Mariwan on March 3 and dug further back for defensive purposes. Unconfirmed battlefield reports indicate that Kurdish fighters have established control of high ground in the Bayow west of Marivan, which was evacuated by the withdrawal of Iranian border forces.
Amit Segal, chief political analyst from Israel, quoted senior officials’ confirmation: “Israeli officials confirm that Kurdish forces are clashing with Iranian forces.”
The basis of the operation went back months; CNN has previously revealed that the CIA has been quietly supplying weapons to Kurdish groups in an attempt to fuel a broader popular revolt against the Iranian government. Kurdish representatives had separately told i24News that their forces were operating from Iraqi territory.
