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January 6, 2005
Kurdistan Update on the U.S. Special Forces Operation in Irbil
Topics: Middle East News and PerspectivesThis is an update to my previous post with the story from a Kurdistani blogger, Kurdo's World.
KurdishMedia News. Sinjari: US operation in Irbil
January 5, 2005
Kurdistan Regional Government "severely condemns" last night's
military raid on a dormitory in Irbil, a Kurdish Interior Ministry
statement said Wednesday.
"There are no justifications for pounding the facility. Preliminary
investigations show that the helicopters were not being shot at on the
ground," Kerim Sinjari, the Kurdish Interior Minister told reporters at
a press conference in Irbil.
Unconfirmed reports say that US special forces were accompanied by
Kurdish fighters and have been seen in several places in the Kurdish
capital during the night. Some reports also indicate that a senior
member of the radical group of Ansar al Sunna was reportedly captured
during the operation.
"We contacted the Coalition Forces in Mosul. They had no
information. We asked even the American forces in Irbil, they were not
informed either. Last night's forces might have been deployed from
Baghdad;" Mr Sinjari said who also warned that such operations would
undermine the Kurdish authority.
US gunship pound suspected terrorist facility in Irbil
January 5, 2005
Peyamner
US special forces supported by armed helicopters pounded a
university dormitory in Irbil Wednesday night. Initial reports say that
several suspected insurgents were detained and at least 7 others were
injured. According to the eyewitnesses, the operation was launched at
0115 am and lasted for at least one hour.
"We saw four American helicopters flying around our student house
late Tuesday night. Two of the choppers remained in the air while the
other ones disappeared. The remaining choppers started to shoot at the
dormitory by mortar gun around 01 am. Then they launched a racket
towards the house in which we were sleeping," Karzan Hama Ali, a
Kurdish student told Peyamner.
Kurdish police says that they were not informed about the operation and do not know what the targets might have been.
"There were no coordination between us and the Americans, they did
not even let the police and fire-fighters to get through to the sight,"
a police spokesman told Peyamner on condition of anonymity.
Kurdish Interior Ministry has not commented on the operation which
is in itself unique since the Kurdish forces are recognized as capable
of establishing control in Kurdish administrated areas without the
military intervention of the coalition forces in Iraq.
This is the first time after the collapse of the former regime that the US military operates in a Kurdish city.
Links to the news:
Kurdish Media News..
US Arbil attack in pictures-1
US Arbil attack in pictures-2
Posted by Hyscience at January 6, 2005 1:16 PM
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