Iran bombards Erbil’s Sidakan area
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) bombarded the mountains around a village in northeast Erbil province on Wednesday morning, one day after five members of a cell of Kurdish opposition were detained in the Kurdish areas of northwest Iran.
The bombardment targeted the Barbzin heights in Erbil’s Sidakan area, while a separate source confirmed to Rudaw on Wednesday that the IRGC also targeted areas near Choman. No casualties or material damage were inflicted.
The attacks come after the IRGC announced on Tuesday it had detained five people were detained in Baneh. The forces described them as “terrorist armed teams” seeking to infiltrate and conduct sabotage activities.
Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the IRGC, reported that bases of “terrorist groups” in Erbil were targeted, likely referring to Kurdish opposition groups. The agency stated the forces warned the groups that any action would be met with a “heavy” response.
“The first Iranian shelling targeted Barbzin heights at around 8:02, and until now, every now and then, one or two more shellings explode on the heights,” Mohammed Majid Mukhtari, the chieftain of Sidakan’s Barbzin told Rudaw on Wednesday. Rudaw's ground reporter stated that at least ten rounds of shelling had been launched, and that the attacks stopped at around 9am local time.
Ihsan Chalabi, the mayor of Sidakan told Rudaw that the bombardment targeted uninhabited areas and has not resulted in any casualties or material damages.
A source from the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) confirmed to Rudaw that Iran launched shelling in Barbzin, as well drone attacks in the town of Galala, west of Choman.
Rudaw has obtained information that the IRGC have set up artillery on Dolmaidan heights and is using it as a launchpad for its attacks on the Bradost area.
On Wednesday afternoon, Iraq's foreign ministry condemned the "Iranian shelling on Sidakan" in a statement, while also stressing that Iraqi land should not be used to threaten the security of its neighboring countries.
Several armed Iranian Kurdish opposition parties, including KDPI, have bases in the Kurdistan Region mountains, and Iran often targets the bordering areas as a result.
Iranian officials have called on the Iraqi government to take action. Iran expects “appropriate action by the Iraqi government with armed and terrorist groups” in Kurdistan Region territory, Iran’s former ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Danaeifar, said in 2021.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which has cordial relations with Tehran, has called on armed Iranian Kurdish opposition groups not to launch attacks against neighboring countries from Kurdistan Region territory.
Updated at 3:24pm with condemnation by Iraqi foreign ministry