The Eastern Kurdistan Defense Units, known as YRK, has announced the identities of four of its fighters who were killed during clashes with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC, near Mahabad.
YRK is the armed wing of the Kurdistan Free Life Party, PJAK. According to the statement published by YRK, the four fighters lost their lives on June 28, 2026, during armed clashes with Iranian government forces in the Mahabad area of Eastern Kurdistan, also known as Rojhelat. Two of the four were women.
The four fighters were identified as:
Zarîn Akbaş (Zarin Akbash), also known by the name Arjîn Garzan, from Tatvan in Northern Kurdistan, Turkey;
Parastoo Safaeipour, also known as Jihan Sirwan, from Marivan in Eastern Kurdistan, Iran;
Khalil Çiçek, also known as Bawer Cudi, from Muş in Northern Kurdistan, Turkey;
and Rasoul Yeganeh, also known as Shahan Gabar, from Khoy in Iran.
Reports of clashes between YRK forces and the IRGC in the Mahabad and Piranshahr areas had circulated before the identities of the four fighters were officially announced. Iranian state-linked media had also reported the deaths, citing the IRGC’s Hamzeh Seyyed al-Shohada Headquarters, before YRK later confirmed the identities of those killed.
The clashes come amid renewed reports of military activity and security operations in Kurdish areas of Iran. In recent weeks, several armed confrontations have been reported between Iranian government forces and Kurdish political or armed groups in different parts of Kurdistan.
Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported that at least ten Kurdish fighters from PJAK and the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, PDKI, were killed in separate IRGC clashes in the Mahabad and Piranshahr areas. These developments have raised further concern about the militarization of Kurdish regions and the risks faced by civilians living under heavy security pressure.
For decades, Kurdish regions in Iran have faced a high level of military presence, political repression, restrictions on civil society, and armed confrontation between state forces and Kurdish movements. The death of the four YRK fighters has once again brought attention to the consequences of this long-standing militarized approach in Eastern Kurdistan.
Hiwa Life will continue to monitor developments in Kurdistan and report on the human rights and political consequences of renewed military escalation in the region.
