Gunmen posing as defectors from an Islamic extremist group killed a political leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and two other Kurdish officials, a party commander said Sunday. The commander blamed the Ansar al-Islam organization for the Saturday night attack on Gen. Shawkat Haji Mushir, a member of the political leadership of the party, which controls the eastern section of the Kurdish autonomous region of northeast Iraq. Sheik Jaffar Mustafa, party military commander of the town of Halabja, said the three attackers also killed Hekmat Osman, security chief of the Sirwan district, and Sardar Qafoor, military commander of Sirwan district. Three civilians — a man, a woman and a child — were also killed. Mohamad Tawfiq, security chief of Halabja, was seriously injured, and six civilians and three other Kurdish soldiers also were hurt, he said.
That accomplishes a several purposes at once. Not only do a few important Kurdish figures get knocked off, but the snuffies also ensure that any subsequent defectors from Ansar will be viewed with suspicion and maybe get their necks stretched just on general principles. And of course a hit on the Kurds is — just by coincidence, of course — to Sammy's advantage. |