Monday, September 25, 2006
DEBKAfile - Turkey, Iran ready to invade Iraqi Kurdistan
Kurdistan
According to DEBKAfile’s exclusive military sources in Iraq and sources in Iran, Turkish and Iranian military units are poised for an imminent coordinated invasion of the northern Iraqi autonomous province of Kurdistan. DEBKAfile’s sources pinpoint the target of the combined Iranian-Turkish offensive as the Quandil Mountains, where some 5,000 Kurdish rebels from Turkey and Iran, members of the PKK and PJAK respectively, are holed up. Iranian and Turkish assault troops are already deployed 7-8 km deep inside Iraqi territory.
According to DEBKAfile’s exclusive military sources in Iraq and sources in Iran, Turkish and Iranian military units are poised for an imminent coordinated invasion of the northern Iraqi autonomous province of Kurdistan. DEBKAfile’s sources pinpoint the target of the combined Iranian-Turkish offensive as the Quandil Mountains, where some 5,000 Kurdish rebels from Turkey and Iran, members of the PKK and PJAK respectively, are holed up. Iranian and Turkish assault troops are already deployed 7-8 km deep inside Iraqi territory.
Turkey to the northwest and Iran to the east both have Kurdish minorities which have been radicalised by the emergence of Iraqi Kurdistan in the last three years. The three contiguous Kurdish regions form a strategic world hub. A jittery Washington foresees a Kurdish-Iranian military thrust quickly flaring into a comprehensive conflict and igniting flames that would envelop the whole of Iraqi Kurdistan as well as southern Turkey and Armenia.
Tehran is quite capable of using the opening for its expeditionary force to grab extensive parts of Kurdistan and strike a strategic foothold in northern Iraq. Informed US officials would not be surprised if Turkey took the chance of seizing northern Iraqi oil fields centered on the oil-rich town of Kirkuk, the source of 40 per cent of Iraq’s oil output.
Tehran is quite capable of using the opening for its expeditionary force to grab extensive parts of Kurdistan and strike a strategic foothold in northern Iraq. Informed US officials would not be surprised if Turkey took the chance of seizing northern Iraqi oil fields centered on the oil-rich town of Kirkuk, the source of 40 per cent of Iraq’s oil output.
COMMENT: A week ago Iraqi newspapers reported that Israeli soldiers have trained Kurdish troops, but the Kurdish authorities deny allowing any Israelis into Iraq. Former Israeli commandos secretly trained Kurdish soldiers in northern Iraq to protect a new international airport and in counter-terrorism operations, the BBC reported on Tuesday. Former Israeli special forces soldiers entered Iraq from Turkey in 2004 to train two groups of Kurdish troops,one of the former Israeli trainers told the BBC's "Newsnight" programme. The Kurds' political enemies have long accused them of an alliance with Israel while Israel's critics suspect it wants to use the Kurdish region as a strategic base to get closer to its arch-enemy Iran.
Iraqi Kurdistan lies between Iran to the east and Turkey to the north-west. Both countries have significant Kurdish minorities and are worried about the prospect of a Kurdish state emerging in northern Iraq. "Newsnight" also reported that an Israeli security firm called Interop and two Swiss-registered subsidiaries, Kudo and Colosium, were among the main contractors at Irbil airport, providing security fencing and communications equipment. COMMENT ENDS.
Iraqi Kurdistan lies between Iran to the east and Turkey to the north-west. Both countries have significant Kurdish minorities and are worried about the prospect of a Kurdish state emerging in northern Iraq. "Newsnight" also reported that an Israeli security firm called Interop and two Swiss-registered subsidiaries, Kudo and Colosium, were among the main contractors at Irbil airport, providing security fencing and communications equipment. COMMENT ENDS.
