WATCH: Iran bombards Kurdistan border, forcing civilians to flee

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iran shelled mountainous areas along the border with the Kurdistan Region in Erbil’s Haji Omaran on Friday, pushing nomads and shepherds from the area.

“The bombardment took place at 3:00 pm. The artillery shelled the mountain areas, including Goma Hishk, Kani Sork, Khrra Bard, and Chikhidar,” a security source from Haji Omaran told Kurdistan 24 correspondent Tayfur Mohammed.

The shelling forced dozens of families to leave with their livestock, the source added. Many people spending the colder months elsewhere move to the border areas in seasons more condusive to farming and grazing.

Over the past few years, Iran has repeatedly bombarded the border area of Haji Omaran in what they claim are operations targeting Iranian Kurdish opposition fighters conducting an insurgency to attain greater rights in the country.

In Aug. 2017, Iranian artillery bombarded areas near Haji Omaran, killed two civilians, and wounded two more, all of them brothers.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has called on the Iranian government to put an end to indiscriminate shelling of areas near the Kurdish border and asked Iranian Kurdish fighters to avoid using the region to attack its neighboring state.

Editing by John J. Catherine