ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iranian forces carried out renewed attacks in western Iran’s Kurdistan province, according to a monitor on Sunday, coming after an opposition group claimed “self-defense” rights if attacks continued in the area.

On Saturday, the armed wing of the opposition Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) said it had come under attacks by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the mountainous Shaho area of western Iran’s Kurdish region (Rojhelat), warning that it will “exercise its right to legitimate self-defense” if the strikes continue

The Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) reported Sunday that the corps continued “launching drone attacks and artillery shelling against mountainous areas” near the Gavilah village of Kurdistan province’s Marivan country.

The IRGC forces entered areas close to the village early Sunday, allegedly “taking up positions,” with a “military convoy equipped with artillery and drones,” a source told KHRN.

The Shaho region is a mountainous area in Rojhelat, located in the central Zagros range and stretching across Iran’s Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces to some border areas of the Kurdistan Region.

The source also added that, prior to the military shelling, the area was allegedly targeted in two suspected drone attacks.

No parties have confirmed the attacks, although Iranian state media on Sunday reported “operations to destroy unexploded ordnance” in Kurdistan Province.

In early June, another wave of clashes erupted between opposition groups such as PJAK, Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and a newly-formed armed group known as Khori Hiwa, meaning “Sun of Hope,” with the Islamic republic’s forces in Rojhelat, leading to casualties on both sides on several occasions.

The altercations took place in the cities of Marivan, Baneh, Mahabad, Piranshahr, and Paveh, among others.

In late June, PJAK confirmed that four of its members were killed in recent clashes with government forces in Rojhelat’s Mahabad, and warned that the escalation will not go unanswered.