Iran Shells Kurdish Rebels in Iraq

Baghdad - Iranian artillery June 4 shelled villages in northern Iraq where Iranian Kurdish rebels are believed to be operating, according to Iraqi Kurdish sources.

The heavy artillery shelling, which started in the early hours on June 4 and lasted three hours, hit border villages in Binjuin in Sulaymanyah province in Iraq's Kurdish Autonomous Region, the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

There were no reports of casualties as the local population in the villages on the Iran-Iraq border had previously fled the area for fear of shelling.

Iranian army artillery frequently shells villages in the mountains of Sulaymanyah where it says rebels from the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) are based.

The PJAK is part of an alliance of Kurdish rebel groups, including the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The rebel alliance is engaged in an armed campaign in support of their demand for autonomy and rights for the Kurdish minorities in Iran and Turkey.

Kurdish rebel groups are believed to be operating from northern Iraq where Iraq's Kurds established an autonomous government, which is part of a federal Iraq.

Parliamentary Speaker of the Kurdish region, Adnan al-Mufti, urged Iran on June 2 to end artillery shelling during a meeting with the Iranian consul in the regional capital of Erbil.