Iranian rockets bombard Iraqi Kurdistan villages days after Tehran's warning

Iranian rockets hit Iraqi Kurdish villages close to the Iraq-Iran border on Thursday morning, days after a military commander warned that his forces would target armed Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in the area.

Security forces in Erbil said that villages in the Sidakan and Choman areas bordering Iran were subject to intense artillery bombardment from Iran, from 9.00 am local time.

Security sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that drones flew over the areas that were bombarded.

Sidakan mayor Ihsan Chalabi said there were casualties in the bombing, but those killed have not yet been identified.

A senior Iranian military leader warned earlier this week that Tehran could make a "decisive and shocking move" against armed Iranian opposition groups in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Baghdad and Erbil were given ample warning by Iran on the sheltering of separatist groups, Revolutionary Guard commander Mohamad Pakpour said during a visit to the Guard's bases on the Iran-Iraq border.

Tehran told civilians in Iraqi Kurdistan to steer clear of these groups' bases "so that they are not harmed", Pakpour said.

The warnings came one month after the alleged murder of a senior figure within an Iranian-Kurdish group operating in Iraqi Kurdistan. The murder has widely been blamed on Tehran.