KURDS ATTACK

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 March 1946, Page 7

KURDS ATTACK

Fighting in Northern Persia FLARE-UP IN AZERBAIJAN (Rec. 2 p.m.) LONDON, March 20, ■ ■ A Persian general staff officer stated that air support has been dispatched for three Persian garrisons who are fighting off attacking Kurdish tribesmen near the Iraq border. British sources in Teheran say there are no indications of offensive moves by Russians in north Persia.

The staff officer who disclosed that the Persians were battling against Kurds said the garrisons at Sahdasht and Baneh, in northern Kurdistan, and Saqqiz, on the Azerbaijan-Kurdistan frontier, had been under attack for a week, but were holding out. Tribesmen from Iraq were involved in the fighting. Persian agents also reported the presence of strangers speaking a dialect similar to that heard in northern Azerbaijan. The staff officer estimated that the attackers numbered 3000. The office!-, who was addressing a press conference in Teheran, added that seven Persian planes are at present operating from the aerodromes at Hamadan and Kermanshah, supporting the army in an effort to prevent the tribesmen- from cutting the single mountain road southward to Sandak headquarters. He said the planes carried light bombs and machine-guns. He was confident the gairrisons were still holding out, but heavy snow prevented reinforcements from going forward. About 3000 troops were divided between the garrisons, while the tribesmen may concentrate their entire force against one post at a time.

British sources in Teheran stated that a Red Army column wasx operating south of Lake Urumiya. it was added that it was thought the column was engaged in dealing with reactionary tribesmen.

Answering a series of questions on Persia and the Security Council, Mr Bevin told the House of Commons he was jiot in a position to give information concerning the approximate number of additional Russian troops who recently entered North Persia. They ought to leave such an investigation to the Security Council. Asked whether arrangements could not be made for Britain to be represented on the Security Council by a Minister, Mr Bevin said Sir Alexander Cadogan was the permanent representative. He would act on instructions from the Government and keep in close touch. This arrangement corresponded to other Government practice. . Asked did he not think his personal presence desirable, Mr Bevin said he would follow events closely, but as much trouble would be caused by dramatising as by being mundane. Reuter’s Teheran correspondent reports that the new Soviet Ambassador to Persia, Mr Ivan Sadchikov, arrived to-day.

PERSIA’S APPEAL TO UNO ANGLO-AMERICAN SUPPORT ASSURED SOVIET RADIO CAMPAIGN NEW YORK, March 20. The Persian Ambassador at Washington, Hussein Ala, said last night that the Persian Government had been compelled to act because of its responsibility to the Persian people. The appeal to UNO should not be regarded as an unfriendly act. He hoped the case would be dealt with so justly as to leave no ground for future misunderstanding. “Being immediately and directly involved, the British and American Governments will certainly support the Persian case when it comes before the Security Council,” says the diplomatic correspondent of The Times (London). “Technically everything seems in order for a discussion soon after the Council meets on March 25, but it is equally obvious that the Persian Government will be under heavy Soviet pressure before then. “So far Moscow is silent about the latest moves, but the plain fact that in its determination ‘to ensure its frontiers against any accidents, the Soviet Government has already disregarded international treaties and protests from the western Allies seems to indicate the line it will take in New York. A hard debate may be expected, first on the procedure and then on the substance. . “In the meantime the Soviet wireless continues its campaign against the presence of British troops in Egypt and Iraq.”