London (KurdishMedia.com) 22 September 2009: According to a number of independent reports, at least six Iranian officials have been seriously injured or killed by unknown assailants in the Kurdish capital of Sanandaj (Sine) in Kurdistan of Iran. The latest attack came against Sanandaj City Council member, Mehdi Tekhtfiroz, who was shot last weekend. At least five other officials have been targeted in the past couple of weeks.
Last week, a judge in Sanandaj was shot during a day of nationwide protests in Iran. On Quds day, an Iranian national day of solidarity with the Palestinian people, Iranians instead took to the streets to protest their own government. Just one day prior to Quds day and the shooting of the judge, a member of Iran’s Majles-e Khobregan or "Assembly of Experts", Mohammad Shekholeselam, was killed outside of his home in Sanandaj, making him the fourth official to be targeted.
Judge Hasan Davtalab was also targeted just one day earlier in the city of Sanandaj. The judge was struck in the neck according to state-run Iranian news networks. A Friday prayer leader that worked for the Islamic Republic, Mamousta Borhan Ali, was also killed by assailants. Another judge with obvious strong ties to the Islamic Republic was also targeted and was immediately taken to the hospital in critical condition.
The Islamic regime has blamed the attacks Israel, and in the past, blamed it on "hoodlums". However, analysts believed these attacks on officials are a new form of uprising in the Kurdistan region, which has been a consistent region of civil unrest for decades.
Beginning this week, Islamic regime has sent military and paramilitary units to patrol the city streets in Sanandaj in what many see as a crackdown. In recent weeks, the Islamic regime has already arrested a number of students and other citizens throughout the Kurdistan region of Iran including in cities such as Sardasht and Kermanshah. Extrajudicial killings have also been increasing along the border with Iraqi Kurdistan. Those killed include Amir Ghaderpour and Kaywan Hosseini. Many others have been targeted as well.
Executions, which are noted as having the highest percentages in Kurdistan, are also continuing. The latest execution was carried out against Said Amini in the city of Orumiyeh. Most executions are carried out after very short trials.
- KurdishMedia.com
