ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Border villages in the Erbil sub-district of Sidakan are being shelled by Iranian forces, a local mayor has told Rudaw.

The artillery shelling started at 11:40am, hitting the outskirts of the villages of Katina, Barbzin and Bnaparez in Sidakan town," Soran district mayor Maghdid Ahmed told Rudaw.

"We do not know of any casualties as of yet because the shelling is ongoing" he added.

Located in northern Erbil's Soran district, Sidakan stretches across 1,617 square kilometers and borders both Turkey and Iran.

"Iran is bombing the region under the pretext of targeting the Iranian opposition groups based in the region's mountainous areas," the mayor said, adding sporadic Iranian artillery has "damaged orchards and groves" in the area.

He says the Kurdish opposition parties based in the area "have not posed a threat to the security of Iran."

Of Sidakan's 264 villages, 118 have been emptied as of June 2020, district mayor Ihsan Chalabi told Rudaw.

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The region is also targeted by Turkish airstrikes on grounds of targeting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters. The PKK has fought the Turkish state for increased rights for Kurds in Turkey for decades, and is branded a terrorist organization by Ankara.

Turkish observation posts and military bases are just seven kilometers from the center of Sidakan, Chalabi said.

Since 2017, Turkish bombings have killed five civilians, and wounded seven in Sidakan.Iranian mortar shelling has killed one and wounded another three in the same time period, he said.

Rudaw