An Iranian military convoy carrying the heavy equipments of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have stationed near the village of Kani Hosseinbag of Sarvabad, bombarding the heights of Shaho Mountain located between the villages of Deyvaznav and Daleh Marz on 5 April, sources told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
The shelling, which took place without prior notice to the people of the area, lasted for several hours and caused damage to the protected area.
Since 2008, the IRGC has destroyed a large part of these areas, which are designated as protected areas, under the pretext of fighting forces of Kurdish parties, by building military bases in the heights of the Shaho and Kosalan mountains, as well as conducting large-scale military operations in the region.
Shaho and Kosalan protected areas, with an area of 57,236 hectares, are located between the cities of Sarvabad, Ravansar, Paveh, Marivan, and Kamyaran and are in border with Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
An environmental activist concerned about the destruction of these protected areas by the IRGC spoke to the KHRN and said: “In recent years, the IRGC artillery shells have caused wildfires to spread in large parts of these areas. The efforts by environmental activists to contain the fires have always faced obstructions, pressures, and threats by these forces.”
