BAGHDAD, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Foreign Ministry on Thursday summoned the Iranian ambassador and protested against Iran's cross-border bombardments in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq.
"The ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador to Iraq, due to Iranian forces' bombardments with missiles and drones on cities and villages in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, over the past days, especially on Wednesday morning," the ministry said in a statement.
Earlier on Wednesday, Iranian forces carried out cross-border bombardments in Kurdistan in northern Iraq, leaving 13 people dead, including a pregnant woman; and 58 injured, most of whom were civilians, the regional Kurdish Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) said in a statement.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry on Wednesday strongly condemned the bombardment that "targeted four areas in Iraq's Kurdistan region and resulted in many deaths and injuries."
Later in the day, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a halt to the escalation in Kurdistan and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq.
For Iran's part, the commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Ground Force Mohammad Pakpour said the bombardment carried out by his forces is an "anti-terrorist operation," according to the report of official IRNA news agency on Thursday.
"A number of 73 surface-to-surface ballistic missiles and dozens of destruction drones have precisely struck the terrorist positions and targets which led to their complete destruction," Pakpour said.
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. ?