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Despite of border agreement, Iran shells
Iraq's Kurdistan region border area
20.8.2007
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August
20, 2007
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region (Iraq), --
Despite a recent announcement by Iran's state-run
news agency, IRNA, saying Iranian and Iraqi security
officials signed a border security pact, there are
ongoing reports Iran is shelling the border areas in
the Kurdistan region of Iraq. VOA's
Brian Padden recently visited the Kurdish village,
Haji Umran, on the Iraqi Kurdistan-Iran border.
The mountain village, Haji Umran, is a transit point
for trade between the Kurdistan regions of Iraq and
Iran.
The surrounding countryside is dotted with farms and
herds of sheep and goats. During the day, it is a
quiet and peaceful village. But Ali Karter Hussein,
a teacher in Haji Umram, says, for the past few
months, Iranian forces have been shelling the border
area at night.
He says the Iranians shell almost every night, using
strong spotlights to spot targets.
Haji Umran Mayor Ahmed Hamad-Amin says, so far, only
some livestock has been killed. He recently met with
security forces on the Iranian side of the border.
He says the Iranians say they will halt the
shelling, at some point, but, for now, they have a
reason to fire.
The shelling by Iran security forces is believed to
be an attempt to hunt down Kurdish rebels living in
the mountains. In recent months, there have been
reports Iranian forces have clashed with Kurdish
rebels in northwestern Iran. The insurgents are
believed to be linked to Turkey's separatist
Kurdistan Workers Party, known as the PKK.
Kurdistan Foreign Relations Minister Fala Mustafah
says Iraqi Kurdistan is being blamed for separatist
movements within Turkey and Iran.
"We do not want the PKK issue to be an excuse for
any incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan territories.
Unfortunately we have become the scapegoat for some
of these things that have happened," he said. "But
definitely the majority of the PKK are in Turkey and
we don't deny that a number of them are in the tough
mountainous triangle area between Iran, Turkey and
Iraq. But we want to make sure that our
policy is not to allow anyone to use our territories
to launch offensive against any foreign neighbors."
Mustafah says the Kurdish Regional government hopes
to resolve these issues, through peaceful
negotiation rather than military confrontation.
voanews com
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