The PUK insurgency was a low-level 1975–79 rebellion of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) against Baathist Iraq, following the defeat of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in the Second Kurdish–Iraqi War, which forced that organization to declare a ceasefire and move into exile in Iran. Due to lack of foreign support, the PUK guerrillas were only able to operate in the highest regions of south Kurdistan's mountains. During the militancy period the PUK plunged into a political crisis with the KDP, which led the latter to engage in heavy intra-Kurdish warfare, climaxing in 1977. The PUK insurgency later transformed into alliance with Iranian forces during the Iran–Iraq War and were backed by Iran in the Kurdish Rebellion of 1983.