Kurdish Rebellion Poses Severe Challenge to Khomeini

          
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          Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is fac-
          ing his toughest .test since coming to
          power six months ago as he tries to
          impose his authority in the turbulent
          mountain region df Iranian ICurdistan.
          Having committed his prestige to a
          hard-line effort to crush a rebellion
          by Kurdish tribesmen seeking autonomy,
          Khomeini £ a c e s the prospects
          that a nascent guerrilla war in the
          rugged Iranian northwest will in ten-
          sify the strains in his already none-
          too-reliable armed forces and
          strengthen political opposition from
          other sources.
          They are prospects that could spell
          - Khomeini's undoing.
          Already the ICurdish rebellion has
          proved to be a source of opposition to
          IChomeini that is not as easily crushed
          as the liberal and leftist political
          groups he banned in Tehran earlier
          this month and the autonomy-minded
          Iranian Arabs who were put down — —
          at least temporarily — by government
          forces in Iran's southwestern oil-prod-
          ucing region.
          More nu merOus, better armed and
          more determined than less cohesive
          oppositioii groups, the Kurds are not
          as susceptible to Khomeini's threats
          of massive force against them as are
          other disgruntled parties and ininori-
          ties. Moreover, the ICurds are capable
          of waging a damaging and protracted
          guerrilla war against Khomeini's
          forces, which rely primarily on Revolu-
          tionary Guards from outside the area.
          In the latest incidents in the region,
          I cardish guerrillas attacked an Army
          base and at least two more [ Curds
          were reported executed yesterday af-
          ter summary trials by Islamic revolu-
          tionary courts.
          The new fighting and executions
          came as the outlawed ICurdistan Den-
          Ne u 's 24 na iys is
          ocratic Party, the main rebel organiza-
          tion, rejected a call for surrender
          from Khomeini, who has declared
          himself commander in chief of the
          armed forces in his effort to crush the
          ICurdish movement.
          The latest flare-up scuttled an unof-
          ficial cease-fire that took effect after
          government forces overran the ICurd-
          ish towh of Saqqez Sunday, ending
          five days of heavy fighting.
          The armed forces and elite Revolu-
          tion ary Guards under Khomeini's
          command may be able to continue
          routing the ICurdish guerrillas from
          their cities and towns in northwestern
          Iran, analysts here say, but those
          troops would likely take a beating in
          any ensuing clashes in the mountain-
          ous terrain that traditionally has
          served as the ICurds' redoubt.
          Renowned as tough mountain
          warriors, the ICurds might be hard
          pressed to defend urban areas, but
          they can raid government outposts
          and installations in the region almost
          at will.
          That is what happened Tuesday
          night when, according to the govern-
          ment, ICurdish guerrillas hit an Army
          barracks at the village of Jaldian with
          artillery, mortars and inceildiary
          bombs and sabotaged the garrison's
          water and power supplies. Gove ? i-
          ment sources said one Iranian ser-
          geant was killed.
          Although they are more vulnerable
          in urban areas to the government's
          helicopter gunships, artillery and
          IJ.S.-supplied P4 Phantom fighter-
          bombers—used in the battle for
          Saqqez—the K urds seem determined
          to fight for Mahabad, the main ICurd-
          ish stronghold and the capital of a
          short-lived ICurdish republic after
          World War IT
          “Mre have decided to defend our-
          selves and we Will fight,” a Kurdistan
          Democratic Party official in IViahabad
          was quoted by news services as say-
          ing. His vow came after Khomeini re-
          jected IC lrdish pe'ace proposals and
          announced tough c oñditions for end-
          ing the conflict, demanding the sur-
          render of the rebel tribesmen and the
          punishment as traitors of Kurdistan
          Democratic Party leaders.
          Fearing an attack by a column of
          tanks parked about 20 miles outside
          Mahabad, iCurdish fighters are hold-
          ing hill positions commanding the
          roads into the city. The ICurds claim
          to be equippped with tanks, antiair-
          craft guns, antitank weapons and
          some artillery, most of it presumably
          looted from Iranian Army posts.
          Iranian Interior Minister 1-lashem
          Sabbaghian said an agreement had
          been reached to allow Iranian troops
          into Mahabad but this was denied by
          ICurdish spokesmen in the city.
          Pursuing its apparent policy of con-
          trolling cities and towns in the region,
          the government yesterday warned vil-
          lages near the scene of •the latest Kur-
          dish raid that they would be attacked by
          air and ground forces if they shel-
          tered rebels.
          The official Pars News Agency
          meanwhile said tsvo ICurds were exec-
          uted in the town of Zanjan. Islamic
          firing squads have shot at lèást 77 per-
          sons, most of them alleged rebels, in
          the ECurdish region in the past two
          weeks. Kurdish sources told reporters
          that 57 ICurds were executed in
          Saqqez Tuesday, but there was no
          other confirmation of that report.
          Although the ICurds have been res-
          tive since government authority broke
          down during the revolution against
          Shah Mohammed Reza Pahiavi, Kbo
          meini app ears to have contributed -
          largely to the current unrest in the
          ICurdish region. After a Kurdish up-
          rising in the town of Paveh was
          quelled two weeks ago, Khomeini or-
          dered a full-scale mobilization and clis
          patched forces to crush an alleged
          ICurdish rebellion in the iCurdistan
          provincial capital of Sanandaj, which
          was quiet. The mobilization, aimed
          as much at rallying the support of an
          increasingly disenchanted Iranian
          public as countering a ICurdish threat,
          helped to create the rebellion that
          Khomeini had conjured up.
          Part of the trouble also is that -the
          government is skeptical—perhaps
          with reason—of the ICurds' Insistence
          that they are agitating only for re-
          gional autonomy, not an independent
          Kurdish state.