Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Tension in Iranian Kurdistan Pushes Regime to Attack Civilians | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Members of Iranian revolutionary guard march during a parade to commemorate anniversary of Iran-Iraq war, in Tehran. Reuters


Erbil-Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) shelled on Sunday border areas in Erbil province inside the Iraqi Kurdistan region with heavy artillery and Katyusha rockets, injuring five civilians, including three children, and leaving material damage.

Vice-President of the Jouman District Hospital Dr. Helmet Karim told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the hospital, which is located in Erbil Province, had received five injured civilians, including three children who were hit when Iranian forces shelled border areas close to the Hajj Omran District.

“The injured civilians received first aid treatment at the hospital, but three of them needed surgery and were therefore moved to a hospital in the city of Erbil,” he said.

Head of Hajj Omran District Maghdid Arif Ahmad told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Iranian artillery had heavily shelled the outskirts of Alana village in the Hajj Omran District, which is close to the Iranian-Iraqi border.

Arif Ahmad said the shelling injured five residents while they were working in agriculture and grazing. He also said the attack led to the displacement of around 20 families and left damages in the agricultural fields and livestock.

Also, the Revolutionary Guards shelled with heavy artillery a number of villages in the border area of Sidakan in Soran District.

Sidakan Director Karwan Karim Khan told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The Iranian artillery started shelling large areas 15 kilometers deep inside Sidakan District… causing damages in the fields and rangelands.”

According to Khan, around 60 families escaped to nearby villages due to the heavy Iranian shelling.

Iran is shelling Kurdish civilians in the Iraqi Kurdistan District with a claim that it was targeting fighters from the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), which is opposed to the regime in Tehran.

Informed Kurdish Iranian sources said the Revolutionary Guards had lost a large number of its fighters during battles with the Kurdish forces. The sources described the Iranian regime’s attack on civilians in the area as “savage,” saying it was destroying Kurdish villages and towns on both sides of the border.

An official from the Iranian-Kurdish opposition revealed that the IRGC had mobilized a large number of its fighters to the border areas where it also moved its heavy arms and missiles.

KDPI official Khalid Wanawsha told Asharq Al-Awsat that in the past few days, the border areas between Iranian Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq had witnessed a large mobilization of IRGC heavy artillery and Katyusha missiles.

Wanawsha called on the international community to stop the Iranian violations in the region.