Iranian artillery bombs border areas within Kurdistan Region: source

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iranian artillery bombed a number of border areas inside the Kurdistan Region on Tuesday.

A source in the area confirmed to Kurdistan 24 that the artillery shelling focused on the areas bordering Iran, targeting the Barda-Soran territory in Haji Omaran, Choman district in northeastern Erbil.

“The area was severely bombarded for 20 minutes starting from 11:30 a.m.,” the source said, adding that the area was occupied by nomads who move into the territory annually to raise their livestock.  

“So far, it is unconfirmed whether there have been casualties or not,” the source told Kurdistan 24.

Local sources said reconnaissance drones flew over the area, and shortly after leaving the airspace, Iran launched a barrage of rocket-propelled grenades at the border areas. Those areas and their surroundings have been the target of repeated Iranian bombings over the past years with Tehran claiming it is pursuing military bases of the Iranian Kurdish opposition parties.

The Iranian attacks have taken a massive toll on the livelihoods of residents in the border areas who are mostly dependent on farming and livestock as their primary source of income.

The ongoing bombardment also caused the evacuation of five villages in the sub-district of Sidakan, with the risk of evacuating another 20 villages due to fear of being targeted.

The bombardment came one day after raids by Turkish warplanes targeting several areas in the Kurdistan Region’s Makhmour and Sinjar (Shingal) among other areas.

Kurdistan Region authorities stated on more than one occasion that hundreds of residents from the border villages are displaced as a result of the military operations launched by Turkey and Iran that often result in civilian casualties and property damages.

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

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany