Printer-friendly VersionHawjin Rashadaddin
The Kurdish Globe
As springtime approaches and Turkey sends more troops to the northern border districts, is there a possibility of joint Iran/Turkey attacks on Kurdistan's border districts?
Over the last several days, Iranian military forces bombarded Kurdistan Region borders, striking fear in the hearts of border residents.
According to news sources, Iranian Revolutionary Guard shells are aimed at the bases of the Kurdish group PJAK (Party of Free Life of Kurdistan), which aspires to establish a semi-autonomous Kurdish regional entity in Iran as they consider it their right.
The Tehran government accuses PJAK of launching deadly attacks on security forces in northwestern Iran. September was the first time that Iranian government aircraft were known to have violated Iraqi airspace in recent years.
On March 28, Iran resumed bombarding Kurdistan border districts, forcing many families to leave their homes and reside in tents.
"On Friday morning, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards bombarded the districts of Berdunaz, Sari Gome, Qandil mountainous areas, and other separate border districts," a source in the Haji Omaran told The Globe.
"Those districts that were targeted by shelling were distant from residential places, and no casualties occurred," said Haji Omaran district Mayor Ahmad Qadir. Other sources stated that Iranian forces have shelled the districts of Razga, Maradw, Kania Rash, and Piralok.
According to information The Globe has received, 122 families from these border districts have been displaced; the Red Cross has opened a refugee camp to help them and a delegation from the Iraqi Parliament is going to visit the districts.
Meanwhile, with the arrival of the new year of the Kurdish nation (March 21), the Iranian government mobilized more military guards in the border districts to control PJAK movements.
"The Iranian government has set an artillery base in the Khane-Sardasht way," a source from Iranian Kurdistan told a local newspaper, adding: "The base was set by Iran and it is far away from the sight of the people; Iran has increased the number of military forces in the border districts in order to control these districts."
The news sources also reported that the Tehran government intends to increase intelligence foundations in these border areas.
The KRG's UN coordinator, Dr. Dindar Zebari, expressed his displeasure at the shelling and called on the Iraqi government to exert more effort to halt the bombing as soon as possible. Zebari called on UN agencies and NGO's to support and assist civilians subjected to the bombing.
On the northern Iraqi Kurdistan borders, the Turkish army has sent more military forces to the Kurdistan Region borders.
"Turkey increases its troops in the border districts every year at springtime, and the Turkish troop increase this year happens to coincide with the Iranian bombardment of the borders," said the head of PKK relations, Ahmad Deniz, to The Globe, adding, "Turkey and Iran may launch a joint attack to these districts."
The news sources reported that the Turkish army declared the killing of 15 PKK guerrillas in two days of bombardment by Turkish artillery and warplanes this week in neighboring northern Iraq.
In December, the Baghdad government condemned the Turkish military offensive as a violation of its sovereignty, and Washington, concerned that Turkish military action could affect the only relatively stable part of war-torn Iraq, called for a swift withdrawal.
Earlier this month, Turkey's army commander in chief, Yasar Buyukanit, said the military would launch further strikes on Kurdish rebels if need be.
Meanwhile, Turkey is under pressure from the United States and at home to back up military measures against the PKK with economic and political gestures to the sizeable Kurdish community to erode popular support for separatism.