From their hideouts in the Iraqi mountains near Iran, leftist Kurdish rebels say they are ready to fight the Islamic republic, but hope for an uprising before they intervene, with or without US support, AFP reports.

Senior commander Roken Nerada of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) told AFP: “If there is an attack on the Kurdish people… then with every means… we are ready to resist as we always have.”

“I think we can achieve our rights without the help of the US or any other country,” said Nerada, 39, who joined the rebels 17 years ago.

AFP journalists met 30 PJAK fighters in a bunker adorned with photos of fallen comrades, with a television inside showing war coverage with smoke rising from Tehran and Beirut.

Read more here.