Iran shells separatist positions in N. Iraq: Official

By Idris Okuducu and Hemn Baban

ERBIL, Iraq (AA) - The Iranian army on Tuesday shelled positions held by Kurdish separatists in a mountainous region near Iraq’s northern city of Erbil, according to a local official.

Ihsan Celebi, a local official in the town of Sidekan north of Erbil, told Anadolu Agency that Iranian forces had been shelling rural areas near the Iraq-Iran border since midday Tuesday.

Iran, for its part, says it is striking positions held by the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), an Iranian-Kurdish separatist movement said to maintain a presence in mountainous areas near the border.

According to Celebi, local residents have been evacuated from three villages in the region.

The Iranian army sporadically shells areas near Iran’s northwestern border with Iraq, which it considers a PDKI stronghold.