Seven dead in Iran strikes on Iraqi Kurdistan
Iran was accused of killing seven people and wounding 28 in cross-border strikes against Kurdish factions in Iraq that have deplored an ongoing protest crackdown in the Islamic republic.
Strikes blamed on Iran have hit districts of autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan repeatedly in recent days as Tehran has ramped up its domestic crackdown against protests over the death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police.
The regional health ministry in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, said in a statement that the latest strikes killed four people and wounded 14 in the Koysinjaq region, and three were killed and 14 wounded in Sherawa.
"There are civilians among the victims" including one dead, a senior official of autonomous Kurdistan said.
"These cowardly attacks are occurring at a time when the regime of Iran is unable to crack down on ongoing protests inside and silence the Kurdish and Iranian peoples' civil resistance," the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) tweeted.
Mahsa Amini, 22, died in Tehran on September 16, three days after being arrested for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code for women.
Her death sparked protests across Iran and a crackdown that has killed at least 76 people in the Islamic republic, according to the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights.
These strikes against the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan prompted the federal government in Iraq to summon Iran's ambassador.
