Iranian Kurdish shopkeepers strike against executions, missile attacks

Iranian Kurdish shopkeepers on Wednesday began state-wide strike against the executions of Kurdish activists and the bombing of opposition parties in neighboring states.

Last week, six Kurdish political prisoners were executed. Iran also launched missile strikes against the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Saturday, killing at least 15 members.

It said the strikes were a retaliation for repeated cross-border incursions by the "terrorist" group.

General strike in eastern Kurdistan#koyaattack #rojhelat #PDKI #twitterkurds pic.twitter.com/sR1u6Z34zV

— PDKI (@PDKIenglish) September 12, 2018

Kurdish parties and activists in Iran then called for shopkeepers to close down their businesses and strike in protest against the Iranian regime’s actions.

People of eastern (Iranian) #Kurdistan are staging a general strike today in response to #Iran’s missile attack against their political parties and the execution of Kurdish political prisoners. #Twitterkurds #Rojhelat #PDKI #KDPI pic.twitter.com/BSXYdtKhLk

— kosar (@kosar70616173) September 12, 2018

Kurds, a non-Arab ethnic group, have long agitated for their own state. They number between 25 and 35 million people who are spread across Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

In Iran they make up around 10 percent of the population.

(With AFP)