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Iranian attacks render hundreds of Kurdish
families homeless in Iraqi Kurdistan
28.8.2007
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August
28, 2007
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region (Iraq), --
Hundreds of panicky Kurdish families inhabiting
Iraqi Kurdistan border areas with neighboring Iran
had to flee their homes after Iranian shelling
targeted villages at the foot of Mount Qandil in
Sulaimaniyah province, in Kurdistan region, 364 km
northeast of Baghdad.
The families are now living in groups in tents near
rivers and wells, waiting for the government's
helping hand that is never outstretched.
Although the villagers know quite well that their
areas are coming under attack due to the presence of
PEJAK fighters, Iranian Kurds who oppose the
mullahs’ regime in Iran, PEJAK (Party for a Free
Life in Kurdistan) , took up arms for self-rule in
the country's mainly Kurdistan province northwestern
of Iran. Half the members of PEJAK are women.
Khidr Bayez, 57, supports the Kurds. "The presence
of these armed fighters makes perfect sense in the
lands of Kurdistan. Iran might well have had another
pretext to strike even if there had not been the
presence of PEJAK gunmen," Bayez, who was displaced
from his Mount Qandil village, said.
"These fighters are Kurds. This is Kurdistan. They
have no other place to go," he emphasized.
Iran has been shelling border areas in Qala Dize,
135 km northewest of Sulaimaniyah; Haj Omran, 147 km
northeast of Erbil; and Banjwin district, 96 km
northeast of Sulaimaniyah for two weeks now under
the pretext of tracking down PEJAK fighters.
Turkey, also, was shelling border areas in the
northern Iraqi province of Duhok under the pretext
of fighting members of imprisoned leader Abdullah
Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Kurdish sources said the shelling caused damage to
property and fires in Kurdish forests. PEJAK
(Partiya Jiyana Azada Kurdistanę in Kurdish or
Kurdistan Free Life Party) is a Kurdish military
opposition group founded in 2004, believed to be
linked to the PKK. PEJAK, although a newly
established organization, continuously launches
militant operations against Iranian army forces, so
that in 2005, in less than 6 months, it killed 120
Iranian police and wounded tens more.
Homeless families complain of a lack of humanitarian
relief from any organization, in light of immense
material losses, as the shelling sets their lands on
fire. Each of the villages of Maradawa, Arka, Aki,
Sirw, Sora Kola, Spilka, Eleih and Rash have
received more than 50 Iranian artillery shells.
Hundreds of acres of orchards were burnt. The
attacks caused no casualties.
In the village of Sora Kola, life seems to have come
to a standstill. Only seven houses were still
standing and all were vacant except one, where the
men of the village gathered together. Their families
had fled scores of kilometers away."We hold (Iraqi
Prime Minister Nouri) al-Maliki responsible for the
burnt orchards and gardens. These incidents took
place only after his (recent) visits to Syria, Iran
and Turkey," 56-year-old Hamad Hassan said while
leaning on his pillow and sadly looking at the burnt
fields.
A spokesman for the Iraqi Kurdistan region's
security force (Peshmerga) had held the central
government in Baghdad responsible for any decision
representing "a reply to Iranian shelling." "The
problem is occurring on international borders. It is
Baghdad's responsibility," the Peshmerga spokesman
Jabbar Yawir, said.
In one of the PEJAK strongholds Amir Kerimi, a
member of the Kurdish group's administrative body,
said "Iran's attacks began right after Maliki
visited Syria, Turkey and Iran and made agreements
with those countries."
On concerns that Mount Qandil might turn into a
haven for al-Qaeda Organization in Iraq if the PEJAK
and PKK fighters withdraw, Kerimi replied "No force
can ever take Mount Qandil from us."
VOI
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