ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The recent bombardments of Erbil province’s Sidakan area by Iran and Turkey has caused the abandonment of six villages, said the mayor on Wednesday.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked the Kurdistan Region’s Erbil and Sulaimani provinces last week, targeting the bases of exiled Kurdish opposition groups. At least 16 people were killed and over 50 were injured in the attacks, according to Kurdish parties and data collected by Rudaw.
Ihsan Chalabi, mayor of Sidakan, told Rudaw’s Nazanin Goran that since September 24 the area has been constantly bombarded by Iran and Turkey - mostly by the former.
“So far, six villages have been completely abandoned and two schools have been closed,” Chalabi said, adding that many of the villagers are now staying with their relatives in other areas.
The attacks have been locally and internationally condemned.
The head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Chief Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert on Tuesday reiterated that Turkish and Iranian shelling targeting the Kurdistan Region has become a “new normal,” adding that Iran’s recent “reckless” attacks on the Region must end.
The drone and missile attacks have caused the displacement of hundreds of families from a refugee camp in Erbil province’s Koya town to the downtown, according to a local official.
Many villagers in Erbil’s bordering areas have abandoned their houses in recent days after Iran increased its bombardment there.
There have been protests in Iran, starting with the recent death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini while in morality police custody in Tehran. The IRGC blamed the Kurdish parties for a violent unrest that had engulfed the country for nearly two weeks. Demonstrations are ongoing.
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