Kurdish region govt decries Iran cross-border shelling

By Ali Sheikho

ERBIL, Iraq (AA) - Northern Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) has summoned the Iranian consul in Erbil (the KRG’s administrative capital) to register its displeasure over Iranian cross-border artillery barrages.

In a statement, the KRG condemned the shelling of its border areas by Iranian artillery batteries, calling on the Iranian authorities to refrain from targeting civilian parts of the region.

“The KRG has summoned the Iranian consul-general to express its rejection of the recent bombardments,” the statement read.

On Monday, Iranian artillery units shelled the Joman district of Iraq’s northern Sulaymaniyah province, which falls within the Kurdish region and shares a border with Iran.

According to local media reports, a number of civilians were killed by the shelling.

The Iranian military sporadically targets border areas of Iraq’s Kurdish region on the pretext of striking at Peshmerga forces affiliated with the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).