Mullah Fateh Krikar

By Ahmed El-Zawiti, IOL Iraq correspondent

SULEIMANIYA, Iraq, December 12 (IslamOnline) – Armed confrontations have flared-up against between two Kurdish groups, ending a period of peace enjoyed by the Kurdish population in northern Iraq.

On late December 3, a group of fighters belonging to Ansar Al-Islam, an armed group accused by Kurdish authorities of relations with Al-Qaeda, unleashed a sudden offensive on sits of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in areas between Halabja and Khormal.

After a short while, Ansar Al-Islam fighters seized control of the PUK sites, killing 42 PUK fighters and wounding many others.

According to Ansar Al-Islam sources, they lost only four fighters in the skirmishes, although PUK argues that the number of killed Ansar Al-Islam elements exceeds this figure.

Days later, the PUK mounted a counter-attack on the same sites captured by Ansar Al-Islam but no fighting was reported as Ansar Al-Islam fighters had already withdrawn.

PUK pushed mass military reinforcements towards Halabja to pave the way for an all-out offensive on the sites of Ansar Al-Islam.

According to unofficial sources, the PUK forces received orders from PUK leader Jalal Talabani, currently in London to attend an Iraqi opposition meeting, not to broaden the scope of fighting and to wait for this return.

Meanwhile, PUK sources said Wednesday, December 11, they killed 24 members of Ansar Al-Islam including Afghan Arabs (Palestinians and Syrians) by shelling their sites.

Ansar Al-Islam categorically denies the reports.

Bloody clashes erupted between Ansar Al-Islam and PUK shortly after the September 11, 2002 attacks on the United States, with PUK exploiting the attacks to accuse Ansar Al-Islam with links to Al-Qaeda.

The accusation gained further momentum by the declared so-called “war on the terrorism” and the presence of Afghan Arabs who fought in Afghanistan between the ranks of Ansar Al-Islam.

A number of PUK leaders including Talabani and Barham Saleh, president of the PUK government, visited Washington for direct support in its fight against Ansar Al-Islam.

Pictures of dead PUK soldiers were published by Ansar Al-Islam sources

But the United States has refrained from directly interfering in the confrontations.

Ansar Al-Islam is made out of three armed groups that broke out of the Islamic Movement in Kurdistan which was led by Sheikh Othman Abdel Aziz.

This includes Al-Islah Group, led by Mullah Fateh Krikar, Al-Tawheed Movement and the Hamas group.

The three groups joined together under Krikar who was arrested on charges of  links with Al-Qaeda.

Ansar Al-Islam is now led by Mullah Abu Abdullah El-Shafei, who used to lead Al-Tawheed Movement before it joined Ansar al-Islam.

Such inter-Kurd fighting is usually exploited by non-Muslim Kurds to crack down on the mounting Islamic trends in Kurdistan and link them to so-called “Islamic terrorism”.