Iran Shells Kurdish Villages in Northern Iraq

(VOA) Iraqi officials say the Iranian military has fired artillery at several villages in northern Iraq where Iran believes Kurdish rebels are based. Iraqi Kurdish officials say Iranian forces shelled the villages in Iraq's Sulaimaniyah province near the Iranian border Sunday and Saturday.

No casualties were reported, but the government of northern Iraq's Kurdish region says Iranian shelling has caused serious concern among residents. It strongly condemned the bombardment and demanded that it stop immediately.

Iran has not confirmed the artillery strikes.

The Iranian military has frequently shelled areas of northern Iraq it suspects of harboring members of the Kurdish separatist group PEJAK, the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan. Tehran accuses the group of launching attacks inside Iran from bases in Iraq.

Iraq's central government in Baghdad has criticized the Iranian artillery strikes and warned they could harm relations between the two neighbors.