Iran Resumes Bombing Kurdish Villages

On Thursday evening, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards resumed bombarding the Kurdish border villages of Rizgah, Shinawa, Spigle, Maraud and Arke in Pishder district, and Sulaimani province as reported to PUKmedia correspondents from the scene. The shells are aimed at bases of the Kurdish rebel group PJAK (Party of Free Life of Kurdistan) which is a breakaway faction of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) which aspires to establish a semi-autonomous Kurdish regional entity in Iran, similar to the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq. PJAK is accused by Tehran of launching deadly attacks on security forces in northwestern Iran.

6 villages were de-populated in the shelling, 4 houses were demolished, and dozens of families were relocated to areas far from the border, fortunately, no casualties were reported according to private sources. A Japanese organization, the UNHCR, and the IRC opened a refugee camp to the displaced people of the areas, PUKmedia correspondents said as well.

Meanwhile, reports from Foundation for Democracy in Iran (FDI) sources inside Iran and from northern Iraq confirmed that the Revolutionary Guards aircraft have been conducting surveillance flights inside northern Iraq this since the begging of March in areas controlled by PJAK guerillas. September was the first time that the Iranian government's aircraft were known to have violated Iraqi airspace in recent years, saying the local authorities had heeded its warnings.

The shelling, in August, sent hundreds of Iraqi Kurds fleeing remote mountain villages near Iraq’s eastern frontier. Earlier this month, Iraq and Turkey pledged to take measures against PKK and PJAK rebels in northern Iraq during talks to soothe tensions following a Turkish cross-border offensive against the militants. Turkey claims that more than 2,000 PKK militants use northern Iraq as a base for their separatist campaign against Ankara and accuses Iraqi Kurds of tolerating the rebels.

The Kurdistan Regional Government Coordinator of the United Nations, Dr. Dindar Zebari expressed his displeasure of Iranian artillery shelling and called on the Iraqi government to exert more efforts to stop the bombing as soon as possible. Zebari called on the United Nations agencies, humanitarian and charities organizations to support and assist civilians affected by the bombing.