Iran Shells Rebel Border Area in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iranian forces again shelled a border area used by Iranian Kurdish rebels, forcing some families to flee their homes Monday but causing no casualties, a Kurdish official said.
Mustafa Qader, a member of the political bureau of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party, said the shelling began at about 9 a.m. Sunday and continued until 5:30 a.m. Monday.
"It was so heavy that it forced families in these villages to flee the area to find shelter with their relatives," Qader said in a telephone interview from Sulaimaniyah, which is 160 miles northeast of Baghdad.
In Baghdad,
Iraq's central government could not immediately confirm Monday's attack. The Patriotic Union, led by President Jalal Talabani, controls the area where the shelling reportedly occurred.
Rebels seeking self-rule in Kurdish areas of
Iran operate from Iraqi territory and have been active recently, mounting attacks against Iranian army and Revolutionary Guard posts.
Iran says the rebels, known as Pejak, are linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged a 22-year insurgency against Turkey for self-rule in that country's mainly Kurdish southeast.
On Sunday, Iranian artillery fired more than 180 shells into the same area of northern Iraq, also targeting Kurdish rebel bases but causing no casualties, the Iraqi government said. Those shells landed near the Iraqi village of Haj Omran, which is about three miles inside the Iraq-Iran border, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense said.
Iranian forces launched a similar artillery attack April 21.
Turkey last month deployed more than 30,000 additional troops in its predominantly Kurdish southeast and along its rugged border with Iraq and Iran to fight the Kurdish guerrillas and stop them from crossing the frontier.
That came after Kurdish rebels reportedly killed two Turkish soldiers and wounded a third in a grenade attack on a military outpost, raising the number of Turkish troops killed this year to at least 17. More than 40 Kurdish guerrillas also have been killed in clashes in the same period.
The Turkish deployment boosted an already large garrison in the region that by some estimates tops 250,000 soldiers.
Iran also reportedly has moved forces to its border with Iraq near the mountainous region near Haj Omran that is used by anti-Iranian Kurdish fighters.
Talabani has expressed concern over reported Iranian and Turkish troop concentrations on Iraq's borders.
PKK guerrillas typically step up their attacks in the spring, when winter snow melts, clearing mountain passes in the region.
Turkey often increases its military activities in response.
Mustafa Qader, a member of the political bureau of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party, said the shelling began at about 9 a.m. Sunday and continued until 5:30 a.m. Monday.
"It was so heavy that it forced families in these villages to flee the area to find shelter with their relatives," Qader said in a telephone interview from Sulaimaniyah, which is 160 miles northeast of Baghdad.
In Baghdad,
Iraq's central government could not immediately confirm Monday's attack. The Patriotic Union, led by President Jalal Talabani, controls the area where the shelling reportedly occurred.
Rebels seeking self-rule in Kurdish areas of
Iran operate from Iraqi territory and have been active recently, mounting attacks against Iranian army and Revolutionary Guard posts.
Iran says the rebels, known as Pejak, are linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged a 22-year insurgency against Turkey for self-rule in that country's mainly Kurdish southeast.
On Sunday, Iranian artillery fired more than 180 shells into the same area of northern Iraq, also targeting Kurdish rebel bases but causing no casualties, the Iraqi government said. Those shells landed near the Iraqi village of Haj Omran, which is about three miles inside the Iraq-Iran border, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense said.
Iranian forces launched a similar artillery attack April 21.
Turkey last month deployed more than 30,000 additional troops in its predominantly Kurdish southeast and along its rugged border with Iraq and Iran to fight the Kurdish guerrillas and stop them from crossing the frontier.
That came after Kurdish rebels reportedly killed two Turkish soldiers and wounded a third in a grenade attack on a military outpost, raising the number of Turkish troops killed this year to at least 17. More than 40 Kurdish guerrillas also have been killed in clashes in the same period.
The Turkish deployment boosted an already large garrison in the region that by some estimates tops 250,000 soldiers.
Iran also reportedly has moved forces to its border with Iraq near the mountainous region near Haj Omran that is used by anti-Iranian Kurdish fighters.
Talabani has expressed concern over reported Iranian and Turkish troop concentrations on Iraq's borders.
PKK guerrillas typically step up their attacks in the spring, when winter snow melts, clearing mountain passes in the region.
Turkey often increases its military activities in response.
posted by Marko at 5/02/2006 06:59:00 AM
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