Iran strikes PEJAK targets in northern Iraq in first air operation

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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The Iranian artillery shelled the villages of Kani Saif, Jomarasi and Kara Sozi, that belong to the Panjwin district, at 4 am (0100 GMT), a senior Iraqi border guard official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"After the (initial) attacks, at 9 am three Iranian helicopters attacked these areas again," he said. "This is the first time they have used helicopters," he added.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The raids came a week after 26 people were killed in a fierce gun battle between Iranian police and the PEJAK, the PKK's Iranian wing, near the Iraqi border.

Eighteen of those killed in the April 24 clash were Iranian policemen and eight were PEJAK members, Iranian officials said on Saturday.

Iran and Turkey have been long fighting against the terrorist movements operated by both the PEJAK and the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, including the EU and the United States.

Western Iran, which has a sizeable Kurdish population, has seen deadly fighting in recent years between Iranian security forces and the PEJAK operating out of rear-bases in neighboring Iraq.

Under executed president Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-led regime, Tehran and Baghdad fought a devastating 1980-1988 war in which around one million people died.

Relations between Baghdad and Tehran have warmed considerably since the 2003 overthrow of Saddam by U.S.-led forces, although many of Iraq’s Sunni Arabs continue to eye Iran with suspicion.