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Iranian Shells Land in Kurdish Villages in
Iraqi Kurdistan 20.8.2006
Published: August 20, 2006
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Sulaimaniyah,
Kurdistan-Iraq, August, 19 ,-- Artillery shells
fired from Iran have landed in remote northern
villages of Iraqi Kurdistan in the past four days
and have killed at least two civilians and wounded
four others, a senior Kurdish official said
Saturday. Dozens of families have fled the region.
The shells have been aimed at an area around Qandil
Mountain, known as a base for militant Kurdish
opposition groups seeking independence from Turkey
and Iran, said the official, Mustafa Sayed Qadir, a
senior member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan,
which governs the eastern half of Iraqi Kurdistan.
“A lot of homes have been damaged and livestock
killed,” he said. A shepherd was wounded Saturday,
and two women were among the three people wounded on
previous days, he added.
The government of Iraq is aware of the shelling,
which has taken place occasionally in recent months,
but has not taken an official position, he said.
The president of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, is the head
of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. He has at times
had a close relationship with Iran, especially when
he sought Iranian support in the 1990’s against
rival Kurdish leaders and Saddam Hussein. But Mr.
Talabani is also aware of the Iranian government’s
poor treatment of its Kurdish minority. Iranian
officials could not be reached for comment Saturday
evening.
Iran and Turkey have sizeable Kurdish populations
that live in mountainous areas bordering Iraqi
Kurdistan. In recent weeks, the two countries have
stepped up warnings to Kurdish militant groups,
perhaps fearing that they might have enough of a
haven in Iraqi Kurdistan to inject new vigor into
independence movements in Iran and Turkey. Iraqi
Kurdistan is autonomous from the rest of Iraq and is
home to most of this country’s five million Kurds.
It is unclear what weaponry or troops Iran has
amassed along its border with Iraqi Kurdistan.
American officials have accused Iran of supporting
Hezbollah in its recent battle against Israel. This
month, the American ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay
Khalilzad, said Iran had been pushing small Shiite
militias to step up attacks against the American-led
forces in retaliation for Israel’s assault on
Lebanon.
An American military spokesman said some Shiite
militias had been training in Iran and had received
weapons from individuals or groups in that country.
However, the spokesman, Maj. Gen. William B.
Caldwell IV, said the military had not found any
evidence that the Iranian government was involved.
In Baghdad on Saturday, thousands of Shiite pilgrims
converged on a shrine in the northern part of the
capital for an annual procession, walking a route
secured by police officers as a citywide ban on
driving emptied the streets in an effort to prevent
sectarian attacks and panic.
At least three Shiites were found dead in Baghdad,
shot in the head, according to hospital officials.
But the Interior Ministry could not confirm whether
they were pilgrims.
Elsewhere in Iraq, battles continued to rage. An
American soldier died from wounds suffered during
fighting in Anbar Province, the American military
said in a statement. An Iraqi police patrol was
ambushed by sniper fire in Mosul, killing a
policeman and wounding another, the police said.
In a series of gun battles in and around Baquba, at
least six people were killed. A civilian died from
stray gunfire after an attack on an Iraqi police
checkpoint in a western suburb; nearby, gunmen
killed two professors from Diyala University.
nytimes com
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