Kurdish Rebels Reported in Control of Mahabad

          
          TV PAM lr n T iird xh ii'helc
          were In control of most of Mahabad In
          northwest Iran Saturday night after
          heavy fighttsg In which they de
          stroyed government tasks and cap-
          tured the radio station, local residents
          said,
          IranIan government iorces orougnt
          up helicopter guiiships that fired on
          rebel positions, the residents said
          The caaualty toll was not known,
          Guerr ha sources said the rebels
          had captured the local army barracks
          but this could not be immed ate y
          confirmed-
          The official Pars news agency re-
          ported that Kurdish insurgents armed
          with rocket propelled gre iades
          blasted several government tanks in
          the city Three were reported ablaze
          In the main avenue where the bar
          racks are situated,
          One resident who fled to the safety
          of the local governor's residence re
          ported by telephone that security
          forces had bees pushed back to their
          headquarters
          Kurdish sources said t ie fighting
          flared after government forces cut
          roads nto Mahabad and blockaded
          the own in an attempt to check the
          rebels, who have been staging nightly
          attacks on government positions
          Shooting was st 11 going on
          throughout Mahabad after nightfall
          Manaoao was the st onghold of au
          tonomy-aeekmg Kurdish rebe s until
          the army backed by columns of
          tanks, pushed them into the moun-
          tains of western Iran last summer
          Guerrilla sources said army troops
          and revolutionary guard commando
          were involved in Saturday's clsshes
          They said the rebels had captured one
          tapk and some hea y weapons, in-
          eluding 50-mm machine guns
          The first ndication that the
          government was losine control of the
          former rebel capital came last week
          when the Kurd stan pr vinclal gov r
          ior general, Jamshld Haggu, said that
          security forces were no onger In
          complete control of the town,
          Residents said most government
          build ngs could a ready be considered
          In the hands of the rebels because
          most government cmployes were
          sympathetic to the rebel cause, They
          saLd the guerrillas held the radio and
          telev slon station although its equip
          isent had already been destroyed
          Minister of State Dariush Forouhar
          returned to Tehran on Saturday after
          a series of talks with Kurdish leaders
          11w igh menib emIl eL
          Results of the talks were not dis-
          closed by the government, which said
          it welcomed Kurdish suggestions to
          end the pitiful clashes,” It did rot
          say what the suggestions were,
          On Friday, Kurd oh rebels am-
          bushed a column of natonal police,
          battlirg them for two hours near Na-
          qadeh in northwest Iran, the state
          radio said Saturday,
          The radio also said the army Satur-
          day continued its “cleaning up' cam-
          paign in Kurdistan and arrested eight
          members of the outlawed Kurdish
          Democratic Party with “large
          aMo tt ni ,rmc nnti nmmi,nihnn”
          In Tehran on Saturday the Assn. of
          Political Prisoners Opposed to Impor-
          alism and International Reaction said
          o a report that 1 500 men and women
          were being held in Iranian jails as po-
          litical prisoners.
          In addition it charged tha 130 pro
          pie “arres ed on political accusations
          and for anti-imperialist and antireac-
          tionary struggle' have been executed
          A member of the assoc atton told
          reporters, ‘The condition of the pout
          ical prisoners Is not different from
          what It was under the crue reg me'
          of the deposed Shah Mohamired Rosa
          Pahlavl ,
          The report on the executions was in
          reference to the Kurds, ethnic Arabs
          and others executed after trial oy Is-
          lamic courts on charge of treason
          during the recent fighting in Kurdi
          an and Khuzistan provinces
          Kus dish Rebels Repos ted isa (ontsol of Malaabad
          Lo np ,cl T 19 9 IF 1 Or 1 7
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          IRAN TANKS DESTROYED
          Kurdish Rebels Reported
          in Control of Mahabad
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