According to the regional interior minister, Iranian forces shelled Iraqi Kurdistan Monday while fighting against Kurdish rebels. This marks the second time in 10 days that Iran's attacks on the Kurds have crossed the border into Iraq according to Othman Mahmoud. Mahmoud said that 10 villages in northeastern Iraq were shelled by the Iranians.
'Families afraid of getting hurt managed to move to other safer places,' he told Reuters. 'We will never tolerate such intervention and we condemn it. This shelling is a breach of the region's sovereignty.'
Thus far, there have been no reports of casualties as a result of the shelling.
According to a spokesman for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the shelling lasted four hours. The PKK spokesman said the shelling was carried out in retaliation for a rebel ambush that killed five Iranian soldiers. That claim has not been independently verified.
Iraqi officials previously accused Iranian soldiers of crossing into Iraq to attack Kurdish rebels on April 21. Iran denied those reports as well.
Iraq's Sunni population is almost certain to become alarmed over any perceived attack by Shi'ite Iran. The reports may further deepen ethnic tensions in Iraq, something the Bush administration is desperately hoping to avoid.
