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| Terror Networks |
| Islamists Escalate Fight In N. Iraq |
| 2002-11-22 |
| Al Qaeda-backed 'Soldiers of God' are gaining strength and tying up Kurdish forces, potential US allies in Iraq. Kurdish forces facing off against some 650 members of Ansar say fighting on this front is tying up troops that could be preparing to assist with any American effort to topple the Iraq regime. "These Islamists are like a time bomb: The minute we attack Baghdad, and leave these positions, they will attack us from behind," says Sheikh Jafar Mustapha, a senior commander of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of two Kurdish militias in northern Iraq. Just a few miles wide, the sliver of Ansar- controlled turf is protected by other armed Kurdish Islamist allies on two sides, and abuts the Iranian border behind. In front, facing the PUK troops, is an impenetrable strip of landmines and explosives. KURDISH sources, a ranking Ansar defector, and analysts say that Ansar numbers have grown in recent months and include 80 or so Arabs, and others trained by Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. But they say that Ansar morale has dropped, since Iran helped orchestrate the arrest of their leader, Mullah Krekar, in the Netherlands in September. That did seem to upset them. Despite past concerns that conservative elements in Iran supported this Islamist group, or at least turned a blind eye to their activities, Kurdish officials say that Iran is now promising to help them. Iran has warned Ansar to move three miles from the border - a move that would force it into the PUK front line, as well as keep any US attack away from Iran's border. They don't want their own people to get any ideas, like asking us to cross that border. Kurdish officials liken this current front line to the Tora Bora standoff between Al Qaeda and US forces in Afghanistan late last year. Some say that Ansar has dug into the mountains, and built houses over their cave entrances in some of the 18 villages local commanders say are under Ansar control. "We can only fight Ansar from the sky, just as America fought the Taliban from the sky," says a senior Kurdish official. "This kind of work can't be done just with machine guns." Couple arc light missions should do the trick. But several officials suggest that Ansar can be crushed handily with Iranian help, or even if Iran allowed the PUK - with which it has close ties - to temporarily enter Iranian territory and attack from behind. "If Iran helps the PUK to cross the border, the PUK can get rid of 80 percent of them," says defector Said. "If Iran engages itself, it would be a big victory. And if the US Air Force comes, I will not give them days, but hours. Ansar is not prepared for air attack." Iran might like to be seen helping rid the area of al-Qauda. They are becoming a liability. |
| Posted by:Steve |