Islamic radicals believed linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida seized two remote hilltop posts from their Kurdish guerrilla rivals Wednesday in a fierce battle that left at least 20 fighters dead or wounded, Kurdish military officials said. The attack by the Ansar al-Islam fighters was the latest in a long series of skirmishes with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which has sought to drive the extremist Muslim militia from its mountain stronghold on the eastern edge of the Kurdish autonomous zone in northern Iraq. Jaffer Mustafa, a Patriotic Union commander, said the Ansar al-Islam let loose with artillery barrages before dawn, killing some of his men as they slept, then charged with assault rifles and grenade launchers at the positions near the city of Halabja. Massoud Kazem, a local commander, said three or four Patriotic Union fighters were killed and 11 wounded. He said about 10 from Ansar al-Islam were killed.
Mustafa said the Islamic militants succeeded because some of his men were given leave for the Islamic holiday of Eid el-Fitr, which begins Thursday and marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. "They took advantage of the situation," he said. "Everywhere in the Muslim world, people usually stop fighting for Ramadan."
Pressure's on Sammy, so the Qaeda-linked Bad Guys fire up — Kuwait, Jordan, Kurdistan. Quite a coincidence. We probably just haven't heard about whatever's going on in the Turkish border area.
The Kurds have told us to stay out of it, they'll handle Ansar. They'd better start handling them soon. It would make a lot of sense to scrub those hills they took overlooking Halabja with B52s. It's a lot easier on the infantrymen, too... |