"A number of unknown gunmen attacked Bakraju neighborhood in Sulaimani where our relations and diplomacy offices are based and civilians reside at 1 a.m. am on Tuesday, using a vehicle,” said Dara Qorayshi, the head of Komala’s security committee.
Iranian operatives under Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani are known to be active in the Kurdistan Region and across the Middle East.
"Islamic Republic and its affiliates could be behind this in order to wage a psychological war against Kurdish parties,” added Qorayshi.
There were no causalities reported by the armed Kurdish party on Tuesday. Their joint coordination center with KDP-I and PDKI in Koya was struck by seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) surface-to-surface missiles on Saturday.
Iran also has set up an artillery base at Maidan Valley off-and-on targeting Kurdish farm land near the border, under the pretext of the presence of armed Kurdish opposition parties holed up in the Kurdistan Region.
"Iran has been bombarding Barbazin village heights on an almost daily basis in the past 10 days, resulting in the burning of lands and displacement of nearly 200 families, and the region has been economically harmed," Ihsan Chalabi mayor of Sidakan confirmed on Tuesday.
Seventeen people have died in the attacks in Koya on Saturday, including several political leaders, and 46 were injured, according to figures from the health department. Since 1992, due to Iranian and Turkish border bombardments, an estimated 650 villages have been emptied in Erbil and Duhok.
All major parties in the Kurdistan Region condemned the strikes, calling them a violation of territorial sovereignty.
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Maj. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Baqeri said on Tuesday that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) or Government of Iraq “should expel” the Iranian Kurdish parties “if they cannot extradite them,” Fars news agency reported.
"We hope that God willing we won't need to do it again," he said.
US Vice President Mike Pence called the strikes an attempt to destabilize the region during a telephone call with KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani on Monday.
“Vice President Pence condemned Iran’s recent rocket attacks into the Kurdistan Region as an effort to threaten and destabilize its closest neighbor,” read a White House statement.
Five Iranian Kurdish parties including Komala issued a joint statement on Sunday condemning Tehran’s missile strike and called for a general strike in Rojhelat (Eastern Kurdistan).
.png&w=3840&q=75)
