Aug 19, 2007, 14:27 GMT

Iran "massing troops near northern Kurdish region"

[link to news.monstersandcritics.com]

Aug 19, 2007, 14:27 GMT

Baghdad - Iranian troops are reportedly massing along the northeastern stretch of the Iran-Iraq border near Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, sources in Hajj Omran town in the northern Arbil province said Sunday.

The unnamed Kurdish source said Iranian forces looked about to launch a large-scale offensive targeting members of the Kurdish workers' party and the Party for Freedom and Life known as PJAK.

Members of the 'rebel' groups, who fiercely oppose the governments of Iran and Turkey, are said to be based near mountains that stretch along the borders with Iran.

On Saturday, unconfirmed Iranian reports had said that they succeeded in shooting down an Iranian helicopter involved in military manoeuvres in northeastern Iran.

Military attacks targeting the two Kurdish groups are not uncommon. Only last Thursday, Iranian and Turkish forces shelled two northern Iraqi border cities in the autonomous region.

On the same day, a group of Kurdish villages were bombed while an intense Iranian strike on the province of Sulaimaniya was also reported.