Iranian military deals heavy blow to PKK affiliate

The Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), an Iranian offshoot of the PKK terrorist organization's armed wing YRK (East Kurdistan Defense Units), suffered heavy losses in a clash with the Iranian army in the Sardasht county of West Azerbaijan state, losing five militants.

According to the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force, Brig. Gen. Mohamad Pakpour, speaking to a Farsi news agency, said the Iranian military killed 5 PJAK militants.

"In an operation conducted in the West Azerbaijan state, five PJAK terrorists were killed," he said, adding that one of terrorists killed was a high ranking commander.

Pakpour added that the terrorists killed in the operation had executed two revolutionary guards and an Iranian engineer.

The PJAK, which is associated with the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the umbrella organization for the armed terrorist organizations, the PKK and Democratic Union Party (PYD), in 2011 ended all armed operations unilaterally and had declared a cease-fire, but the Revolutionary Guards has stated that the conditions of the cease-fire were "vague" and inadequate.