The PJAK, or the (Partiya Jiyana Azad a Kurdistane) is a militant Kurdish nationalist group based in northern Iraq that has been carrying out attacks against Iranian forces in the Kurdistan Province of Iran.

In retaliation, Iranian bombings intensified in late May 2010 and have led to the displacement of more than 500 Kurdish families, wounded an unknown number of villagers and killed a teenage girl.

Iranian border guards have also targeted their livestock and sometimes fired at the villagers themselves. Firing artillery shells into populated areas, especially where there are no military targets and targeting livestock are serious violations of the laws of war.

With their villages destroyed and livestock killed, innocent Kurdish civilians have fled their border villages to crowded refugee camps in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah provinces. Aid organizations and local municipalities have struggled to meet the displaced families’ basic needs.

This story has been covered just shortly after the Iranian forces have shelled the Qandil Mountains on 24 Aug 2010. The IDP camp is located near the town of Ranya, Iraqi Kurdistan.