One Thousand
Peshmerga Deployed Along the Iranian Border
An attack in
Arbil is a sign that threats to the security in the hitherto peaceful region are
growing. Kurdish government deploys more men along the border with Iran in an
attempt to stop possible infiltrations in support of the notorious terrorist
group Ansar al-Islam.
Sulaimani (AsiaNews) – May 11, 2007- Iraq's
autonomous Kurdish region has sent 1,000 peshmerga troops to its border with
Iran to stop smuggling of men and weapons flowing in to support Islamist groups
like Ansar al-Islam (supporters of Islam).
Major General Jabbar Yawir said an Ansar-allied
group calling itself the "Kurdistan Brigades of Al-Qaeda" has repeatedly
attacked Iraqi Kurdish forces in the region around the border town of Penjwin.
“The forces sent shall be in two brigades,” the
general said. “Some will reinforce army units and border checkpoints and some
will mount patrols in the region to ambush the enemy.”
The peshmerga are former Kurdish separatist
guerrillas that have been incorporated into the Iraqi and Kurdish armed forces
in the four years since a US-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.
Ansar al-Islam is one of the most radical
Islamist group in the country and has close ties to the Talibans and al-Qaeda.
Northern Iraq is relatively peaceful compared
to the rest of the country, where Sunni and Shiite factions have been fighting
an undeclared war fuelled from the outside.
However, recent incidents have raised fears
that the security situation in Kurdistan might also deteriorate. Because of its
relative calm the area had become a refuge for many people displaced from
elsewhere, especially Christians fleeing persecution in Baghdad and Mosul.
On Wednesday, a powerful truck bomb exploded in
front of the Kurdish interior ministry in Arbil, killing at least 14 people and
injuring another 87. That attack was claimed by the "Islamic State of Iraq",
which includes the al-Qaeda in Iraq organisation as well as six other smaller
affiliated groups.
US commanders in Iraq accuse Iran of stoking
the fire in Iraq by funding armed Sunni and Shia groups just to keep tensions
high and spread chaos.
