SULAIMANI,
(Southern Kurdistan), June 13--More than 2,000 Kurdish fighters are being
deployed in restive Diyala province to support US and Iraqi forces fighting
insurgents, a top Kurdish security official said Wednesday.
"Four regiments of 560 Peshmerga fighters will be dispatched to Baquba in the
next few days to assist US and Iraqi forces," said Brigadier General Jabbar
Yawar, spokesman for Kurdish Peshmerga force.
He said the fighters will be largely deployed north of Baquba where there is a
significant population of Kurds, especially in towns such as Mandeli and
Khanaqin.
The deployment of Peshmergas in Baquba is the first such mission for the
fighters outside the northern Kurdish regions of Iraq where they manage the
security.
On Wednesday a suicide bomber walked into the office of a police chief of a
Kurdish town on Wednesday and blew himself up killing five policemen, a police
officer said.
"The bomber wearing an explosives belt walked into the police station of Mandeli
and entered the office of the station chief at around 8:30 am (0430 GMT)," said
Nadhom Sharief.
"He then blew himself up and killed five policeman and wounded two, including
the police station chief."
Mandeli is a largely Kurdish town in the restive province of Diyala, northeast
of Baghdad.
