5/27/2011
Article - Untitled Article
Publication: Guardian 1821-2000; Date: Oct II, 1979; Section: None; Page:6
Kurds besiege
gendármes in
border post
Frni Liz Thurgood
iii Tebran
The Iranian Government
announceth-rww plans to crush
the Kurdish rebels yesterday
after it reported that 50
gentrmes jiad been mapped
inside their border post since
an attack by some 400 ICurds
on Tuesday n{ght.
All radio contact had been
lost with ihe post at 1-lani Gar-
maich and the Kurds were re-
potied to bD in wut a'Ol of key
highways.
The siege, and the mas-
sacre of 52 Islamic guardsmen
earlier this week, appeared to
have taken the Government by
surprise. As Shi'a Iran went
into mourning 1 the—Befence,
Minister, Mostafa Cha'mrzrn,
left for Kurdestan lo “coor-
dinate th flah•tLiJl ” and the
anned forces clidef of staff,
General Hosseliv S it a k e r,
announced that plans to crush
the insurgents would go into
operation “within the nert two
absence of their leaders, Dr
Gbasseinlou and Shelkh Ezzru-
dine il osselni, who are both
wanted men.
This fighting marked the
first major action since early
September, when the ICurdish
rebels lost key urban venkrtm
i•n a crackdown ordered by
Ayatollah Xhomeifli,
The bazaars in Qum and
Tehran closed yesterday and
Eslahan, traditionally a reU-
gious city 4 declared a two-day
mourning period for those who
died in The ambush. De-
monstrations were also held in
several cities, jncludlng
Tehr.an.
Events surrounding the mas-
sacre were still confused yes-
tcrday. Reports in the local
press suggests that several
guardsmen might have been
victims of the armed forces.
The guards. officially called
“the guardians of the Islamic
lievolution,” are a paramilitary
force raised from young and in-
experienced Moslem volunteers
when Ayatolbh Khomelwi
came to power.
Highlighting possible differ-
ences between the guards and
the armed forces, I he Defence
Minister and the Chief of Staff
_______ bave claimed that a contingent
of gua nds men moved out of
Sardasht without informing the
local garrison and agawst
Army advice. This was denied
by ‘a guardsman who said that
his men had been lired at by
soldiers passing Through the
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5/27/2011 Article - Untitled Article
The_siege, coupled with spot- area.
adic tuacKs on at least three In an interview with the
other border posis nd a niic- Islamic Republic, a claUy con-
rowave communications tower sidored to he the mouthpiece
overMght. appeared to be a of Qoin, the guard elathied that
continuation of the Kurdish an Army c 01 U m n had
guerrilla offensive that started approached the area, heard
on Sunday when the 52 shooting and, thinking it had
guardsmen were killed tn an come under fire, shot back.
ambush outsMe the border The guardsmen were forced
town of S;rdasht. back bile the hills where the
The offensive was originally, attack by the Kurds continued 1
expected in the winter 1 still six he said.
weeks away.
One result of the violence
has been an indefinite post
ponemen'L, announced eariier
this week, of elections for peo-
ple's councils in eight Kurdish
towns. The councils had been
prDpOsed by the Islam ic regime
to give the Kurds more say in
handling their own aifatrs.
Sources here have said that
The ICurds refused to cooperate
with Tebran because of the
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