The Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) is a Kurdish political and militant group founded in 2004 in Iraq.[1] The group operates in Kurdish inhabited areas and advocates for the autonomy and the rights of Kurdish people.[2] Other goals of the PJAK include the establishment of a secular and democratic political system in Iran and greater gender equality.[3] The group is considered a branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an internationally designated terrorist organization which operates primarily in Turkey.[4] Various PKK members contributed to the creation of the PJAK and held leadership positions within the group.[5] As of 2008, the PKK shared logistics, leadership and provided personnel to the PJAK; it also appears that the PKK provides considerable direction with regards to the group’s actions and activities.[6] The PJAK has a political wing and a military wing. The military wing is known as the East Kurdistan Defense Forces and operates mainly in Iran.[7] Ahmadi controls the group’s operations from Cologne, Germany.[8] The PJAK has an estimated size of 3,000 members based in the Qandil mountains in north Iraq.[9] The members of the group are mainly Iranian Kurds, but there also exist many Kurdish supporters from Iraq, Syria and Turkey.[10] In 2009, the PJAK was designated as a terrorist organization by the United States Department of Treasury, which cites the group’s affiliation with the PKK amongst the reasons for their listing. [11] View full narrative