Press Release: Iran Continues Targeting Kurdish Civilians in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region in Violation of the U.S.–Iran Ceasefire
The Islamic Republic of Iran Continues to Target Kurdish Civilians in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in Violation of the United States–Iran Ceasefire
The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) condemns in the strongest possible terms the sustained campaign of missile and drone attacks conducted by the Islamic Republic of Iran against civilian camps and party facilities on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. These attacks have continued, and indeed intensified, in direct violation of the ceasefire concluded between the United States and the Islamic Republic on 8 April 2026.
Recent Attacks
On the afternoon of Wednesday, 15 April 2026, several Iranian drones struck a civilian camp belonging to the PDKI in the vicinity of Degala, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. This constitutes the fifth such attack on this camp within the past month.
The strike followed a wave of Iranian drone attacks the previous day, Tuesday 14 April, targeting the PDKI’s Azadi Camp near Koya, the Sordash Camp of the Komala Toilers Party of Kurdistan near Sulaymaniyah, and additional positions in the Khalifan and Rawandiz areas. These attacks resulted in the martyrdom of Ghazal Mawlan, a Peshmerga of the Komala Toilers Party, and the wounding of two other Peshmerga.
A Ceasefire Violated From Its Inception
On 8 April 2026, the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire mediated by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Within days of its entry into force, however, Iranian drones returned to the skies of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq.
The Islamic Republic is engaged in direct negotiations with Washington at the diplomatic table while simultaneously conducting drone strikes against Kurdish refugee camps, family residences, and political party facilities on Iraqi sovereign territory. This is not a peripheral or technical breach of the ceasefire framework. It is the deliberate continuation of a years-long campaign of cross-border state terror against Iranian Kurdish civilians, conducted under the political cover of an active diplomatic process, and tacitly tolerated, to date.
A Sustained Campaign Against Kurdish Civilians
The strikes of the past forty-eight hours form part of a documented campaign that has dramatically escalated since the outbreak of the Iran–United States–Israel war on 28 February 2026.
Between 28 February and 15 April 2026, at least 112 missile and drone attacks have been carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps against locations linked to Iranian Kurdish political parties in the Kurdistan Region. The PDKI alone has been targeted on ninety-six occasions during this period. Troughout this campaign, Iranian missiles and drones have targeted not only party facilities, but the Azadi, Amiriyeh, Zawiya Spi, Degala and Jezhnikan civilian camps housing the families of party members, together with schools attended by refugee children, medical centres, libraries, and the private residences of PDKI members.
Violations of International Humanitarian Law and Iraqi Sovereignty
The deliberate targeting of refugee camps, schools, medical facilities, and the family homes of political exiles constitutes a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and of the foundational principles of distinction, proportionality, and civilian protection under international humanitarian law. Under any reasonable legal standard, these acts meet the criteria of war crimes.
They further constitute a sustained violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Iraq, and of the constitutional authority of the Kurdistan Regional Government, in direct contravention of the United Nations Charter.
Call to the International Community
The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan urges the Government of the United States to recognise attacks on civilian sites in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq as violations of the ceasefire and to respond accordingly. The PDKI also calls on the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government to raise these violations with the United Nations Security Council.
We also urge the European Union, the United Nations and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to condemn the targeting of civilian camps, support an independent investigation and acknowledge that Iran is exploiting the ceasefire to attack Kurdish civilians. A ceasefire that does not protect Kurdish civilians is not peace; it is a licence to continue the war.
For media enquiries, please contact the PDKI International Press Office [email protected]
Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI)
Department of Foreign Relations
2026-04-15
