ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least two projectiles launched from Iran struck positions belonging to the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) in the Balisan Valley, northeast of Erbil, on Wednesday morning, in the latest cross-border attack targeting Kurdish opposition groups.
Rebaz Sharifi, PAK spokesperson, told Rudaw English that between two and four projectiles targeted the group's positions at around 9:30 am near the village of Hasanawa, in the Balisan mountains. He confirmed that there were no casualties.
A security source told Rudaw English that the PAK positions were targeted by two Hadid-110 attack drones. However, accounts differed over whether the weapons used were drones or ballistic missiles.
At least one strike hit the western side of Bani Harir mountain 70km northeast of Erbil, according to a resident of a nearby village.
"We heard four loud bangs," Bestun Yassin, a resident of Mamodyan village, told Rudaw. "It struck an unfinished tunnel," he added.
The attack comes a day after Iran's ambassador to Iraq, Mohammed Kazem Al-e Sadegh, claimed Baghdad had agreed to expel Iranian Kurdish opposition groups from the Kurdistan Region or hand them over to Tehran following a joint security meeting on Monday.
However, an Iraqi official who attended the meeting denied that such an agreement had been reached.
Hama Nazif Ghaderi, a senior official of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), told Rudaw English on Tuesday that the party had received no notification from Baghdad or Erbil and would not surrender its weapons, which he said were essential to defending Kurdish rights.
Iran has repeatedly targeted Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region since February 28, when the United States and Israel launched their aerial campaign against Tehran. The Region has faced nearly 1,000 drone and missile attacks since the conflict began.
Wednesday’s attack also comes amid heightened regional tensions, with Iran continuing to target commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz despite renewed diplomatic efforts.
