ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Fresh cross Iran-Iraq border artillery fire targeted the area of Alana in Haji Omaran, northeastern Erbil province on Thursday, a day after the death of an 18-year old girl in nearby Sidakan.
"Since 8:50 today, Iranian artillery fire has been shelling the mountainous areas of Alana," mayor of Choman Ahmed Qadir told Rudaw, adding that no new casualties had been reported.
"This shelling has taken place for two days in a row," Ahmed said.
He decried the "indiscriminate" offensive, urging Tehran to "stop the shelling as soon as possible."
Iranian shelling took place in response to the reported killing of four Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members in two separate incidents on Iranian soil on Tuesday. Nazim Dabagh, the KRG's representative to Iran, told Rudaw on Thursday he was informed by Iranian authorities that they would be “retaliating” to the Tuesday killing of four Guard members.
Kurdish armed groups opposed to the Iranian regime like the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) and the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) are increasingly upping their attacks on the IRGC.
The opposition groups operate in the mountainous border areas between the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and Kurdish areas of Iran, known as Rojhelat by Kurds.
Villages in Haji Omran have since come under “intense” artillery fire, local resident Mahsoon Hamad Amin, a resident of Alana, told Rudaw. "The artillery fire has displaced us and caused heavy damage to our orchards and crops," she said. "We do not dare go back to our houses.”
"There are no anti-Iran opposition groups present in the area," she affirmed.
Today's attack follows the killing of a young woman and injury of two of her brothers by Iranian artillery shelling in the nearby Barbazin heights in Sidakan, northeast Erbil.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has condemned both the Tuesday attack on Guard Corps soldiers and Iranian shelling of its territory, saying in a statement on Wednesday that it “does not accept its borders being used to destabilize the security of our neighboring countries.”
“We are also calling on the Islamic Republic of Iran to stop the artillery shelling of the Region which has sparked fear and led to the displacement of people,” it added.
Iran has shelled areas inside the Kurdistan Region on several occasions, on the pretext of the presence of armed Kurdish groups on its border. In September 2018, 17 top KDPI party members were killed in a missile strike after Iran targeted a coordination center for opposition groups.
Turkey also carries out military campaigns within the Kurdistan Region against suspected Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets. The party is headquartered in the Qandil mountains, close to the Iraq–Iran-Turkey border.
The KRG and Iraqi federal government have repeatedly called on armed groups not to launch attacks against neighboring countries from its territory.
Updated at 4:12pm
