BAGHDAD, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Thirteen people were killed and 58 wounded on Wednesday after Iranian forces carried out cross-border bombardments on Iranian Kurdish opposition parties' positions in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq.
A statement by the regional Kurdish Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) said that Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) carried out four stages of bombardments, using ballistic missiles and booby-trapped drone.
The attack targeted the headquarters of their Kurdish opposition parties in Barde and Koya in Erbil province, in addition to headquarters in several areas in the neighboring Sulaimaniyah province, the statement said.
The information indicates that more than 70 Fateh ballistic missiles and booby-trapped drones were launched from the Iranian provinces of Kermanshah and West Azerbaijan, said the statement, adding that "they targetd public places and civilian homes."
The statement confirmed that 13 people were killed, including a pregnant woman, and 58 injured, most of whom were civilians.
Meanwhile, a statement by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry strongly condemned "the Iranian side's artillery and rocket bombardment, which coincided with the use of 20 drones loaded with explosives that targeted four areas in Iraq's Kurdistan region and resulted in many deaths and injuries."
The ministry also announced Wednesday that it will summon the Iranian ambassador in Baghdad over the cross-border bombardments.
On the other side, the Iranian Mehr News Agency confirmed the bombardments, saying that IRGC "has once again targeted the positions of terrorist groups operating near the country's western borders in Iraq's Kurdistan region."
Iranian and Turkish forces frequently attack the military bases of their Kurdish opposition parties in Kurdistan in northern and northeastern Iraq, accusing them of carrying out attacks against their home countries from the Iraqi Kurdish region. ■
