CHAMCHAMAL,
Iraq, March 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) -The Kurdish-
controlled town of Chamchamal came under a shelling attack Friday, March
28, in a retaliation from the Iraqi forces that had allegedly retreated
Thursday, March 27, to the oil capital of Kirkuk.
There
were no immediate reports of casualties, although some of the incoming
fire did land close to residential areas, Agence France-Presse (AFP)
reported.
Two
large explosions hit hilltops around Chamchamal followed by a third
minutes later that hit a Kurdish checkpoint near the center of town.
A
Reuters correspondent saw shattered glass and a small crater but no
signs of injuries at the checkpoint.
During
the next 30 minutes another four bombs fell, three missing their target
and one hitting a small suburb of the town. It was not immediately clear
if there were any casualties, he added.
On
Thursday, Iraqi Kurdish rebels with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
(PUK) moved about 16 kilometers (10 miles) west along the road towards
Kirkuk.
PUK
fighters also captured the town of Qarah Anjir, situated in hills to the
east of Kirkuk, after clearing scores of anti-tank and anti-personnel
mines left behind by the retreating Iraqi army.
"The
Iraqi army is finished. They were ordered to pull back to defend the
city," boasted Rostam Hamid Rahim, a top PUK commander.
Fighters
here allowed journalists to walk out of Qarah Anjir to a point just 16
kilometers from Kirkuk city centre and 14 kilometers from the city
limits.
Only
" A Perimeter"
PUK
military sources said the Iraqi troops were now only holding a perimeter
on the edge of the city, and the Kurds would first consolidate their
positions and coordinate with U.S. invading forces and their erstwhile
rivals in the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), posted to the north of
Kirkuk, before moving forward.
They
also said small teams of U.S. special forces were working alongside
their PUK allies in the operation to secure the area captured.
Rostam
dismissed suggestions that the Kurds would be kept out of Kirkuk in the
light of Turkish concerns that a capture of the oil-rich city could
embolden Kurdish moves towards independence.
"This
is our area," asserted Rostam, a native of the city who has been
battling central government in Baghdad for 35 years. "The Americans
will not prevent us from liberating Kirkuk."
The
Kurds see Kirkuk as their capital in a future federal Iraq, and tens of
thousands of them have been displaced from the city in a campaign of
"Arabisation" ordered by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
U.S.
Intervention
The
move in the frontline came after the U.S. airdropped 1,000 troops into
areas held by the KDP as well as flying special forces teams into
PUK-held areas.
More
U.S. occupation forces were flown into the Switzerland-sized Kurdish
zone overnight Thursday.
A
large convoy of U.S. fighting vehicles were sighted near the PUK's
nearby administrative capital of Sulaymaniya while some U.S. personnel
were seen near the frontline Iraqi positions.
U.S.
forces also flew in more transport vehicles overnight but as yet have
not brought in any armor, a AFP correspondent at the scene said.
Dozens
of trucks and Humvees were assembled near the landing strip at Harir,
northeast of Kurdistan's main town of Arbil, in KDP-held territory, and
two more Sea Stallion helicopters were on the tarmac, taking the total
to four.
But
U.S. operations in the area have been limited by Ankara's refusal to
allow the use of Turkish soil for a deployment into northern Iraq.
Washington
had initially hoped to send in 62,000 troops via Turkey, in what could
have been a key northern push towards Baghdad.
Along
with the KDP, the PUK has been running northern Iraq since the wake of
the 1991 Gulf War.
Further
PUK Advance
In
another-related development, thousands of Iraqi Kurd fighters backed by
U.S. special forces swept into territory in northern Iraq held by Ansar
Al-Islam group, Kurdish officials said.
The
sources said some 8,000 peshmerga with the PUK captured a string of
villages held by Ansar between the Kurdish town of Halabja and the
Iranian border.
The
PUK said the Ansar fighters fled into the mountains that mark the border
with Iran after the attack, which began at around 7:00 am (0400 GMT).
"Dozens"
of U.S. special forces recently flown into the area helped with the
operation, the military sources said.
Three
PUK fighters were reported killed in the attack. There were no Ansar
casualty figures given.
