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A report from inside the military base of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan.

High on a mountain top in Iraqi Kurdistan is the military base of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan. For the first time, BBC News's Namak Khoshnaw has been given access to film inside Komala. 

High on a mountain top in Iraqi Kurdistan is the heavily-guarded military base of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan. It's a magnet for young Iranian Kurds who risk everything to make the perilous trek from the Islamic Republic. For the first time, BBC News Arabic's Namak Khoshnaw - himself a Kurdish refugee from the days of Saddam - has been given unique access to film inside Komala.  
 
Komala emerged out of the bloodshed of the Iranian revolution. It advocated a secular, federal state and demanded democratic reforms, women’s rights and cultural and religious tolerance. When Ayatollah Khomeini took power he declared the party illegal and began persecuting its members, branding them as anti-revolutionary infidels who were trying to stop the advance of Islam. 
 
Komala has several thousand male and female peshmerga - Kurdish guerrillas - in Iraq. They frequently mount cross-border operations to show their presence in neighbouring Iranian Kurdistan, where they maintain a secret network by what they say are non-violent political activities. They insist the peshmerga are armed only for self-defence - but has Komala really dispensed with armed struggle, or is it simply biding its time? 
 
The film follows a group of young men and women as they undergo three months of rigorous military training before qualifying as peshmerga and becoming full members of Komala.
 
The BBC invited the Iranian government to provide a statement of its view of the Komala Party and to comment on the findings in this film. It has received no response.



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