The Associated Press
December 4, 2002, Wednesday, BC cycle
SECTION: International NewsLENGTH: 642 words
HEADLINE: Islamic fighters with alleged al-Qaida links attack Kurdish militia in northern Iraq
BYLINE: By BORZOU DARAGAHI, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: SHASHIK, Iraq
BODY:
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.
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."
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.
While some of the Ansar al-Islam forces are Kurds, Mustafa said they include Arabs trained in Afghanistan who are believed to have ties to al-Qaida. The Islamic fighters have admitted to reporters in the past that they trained in al-Qaida camps but denied current links to bin Laden's group.
Brown smoke rose from the hills along the Iraq-Iran border after the fighting. Isolated military outposts dot many hilltops in the region between the Suren and Nooye Bardebar mountain ranges.
At the Shoresh Hospital in Sulaymania - headquarters of the Patriotic Union about 65 miles from the battle - wounded fighters said the early morning artillery barrage was a bitter surprise.
"They suddenly started attacking us with Kalashnikovs, rocket-propelled grenades and artillery. It was very frightening," said Sarkout Faeq Karim, a 35-year-old Kurd shot in the left hand and shoulder.
Karim said the Ansar al-Islam fighters had earlier bragged they would attack around the Islamic holiday but added: "We didn't believe them."
The fighting took place about six miles from Halabja, a city notorious as the scene of a poison gas attack by the Iraqi army in the waning days of the Iran-Iraq war in March 1988. An estimated 5,000 Kurds were killed in the attack, often cited by American officials as evidence of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's cruelty.
The city of 35,000 is now part of the Kurdish autonomous zone created after Kurds rose in revolt against Saddam after the 1990-91 Gulf War. The rebellion was crushed, but the area has remained out of the Iraqi government's control, protected by U.S. and British overflights.
The Patriotic Union runs the eastern part of the zone, while the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party rules in the western sector.
By Wednesday afternoon, Patriotic Union militiamen were vowing to recapture the hilltop posts. Fighters in sports-utility vehicles and pickup trucks outfitted with artillery poured into the region.
Islamic fundamentalist groups have been a thorn in the Patriotic Union's side for years. A separate group called the Islamic Movement of Kurdistan held Halabja from 1998 to 2000, but was driven out by the Patriotic Union.
The Patriotic Union accuses the Islamic Movement of secretly supporting Ansar al-Islam, which is believed to have several hundred fighters. The larger Islamic group denies the charge.
Mustafa said the Ansar militants had repeatedly attacked his forces in the last few months. "Each time they've attacked they've been defeated," he said. "This time they took a chance and got lucky."
