Hundreds Displaced in Northern Iraq

[seemslikeadream]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g6eoOaW6jT7tTxObv2lu2OmJ_TfQ

Hundreds Displaced in Northern Iraq
By YAHYA BARZANJI – 6 hours ago

MARDOW, Iraq (AP) — As explosions boomed in the distance, a Kurdish woman stood outside her house and pointed to where shells scorched parts of her father's grapes and plum orchards.

"It was a bad day when some 20 shells hit our village in a single day last week. We were crying as we prayed to God to protect us from the bombs of the Islamic Republic of Iran," said Serwa Ibrahim, one of the few remaining villagers in Mardow, about 25 miles from the Iranian border.

"Despite the shelling, I will stay in my village until the end," Ibrahim, 33, said Thursday.

Iranian troops have been accused of bombing border areas for weeks against suspected positions of the Free Life Party, or PEJAK, a breakaway faction of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party. Iran says PEJAK — which seeks autonomy for Kurds in Iran — launches attacks inside Iran from bases in Iraq.

Shelling of border areas resumed Saturday after a brief lull, with Iranian shells hitting the Iraqi side of the border and causing some fires. AP Television News showed white smoke billowing from mountainous areas, and Kurdish shepherds carrying carcasses of sheep killed by the shelling.

The Iranian shelling has been criticized by Iraqi officials and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari warned it could have negative effects on the crucial relations between Iran and Iraq's Shiite-led government.

Ari Yashir, a PEJAK member, took a reporter in a tour around several deserted villages and claimed the Iranian attacks only serve to harm civilians.

"The bombing is only targeting villages where we have no bases," he said. "After three weeks of Iranian shelling none of our positions was hit and not a single member of our party was wounded."