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Kurds reportedly fleeing toward Iran
PUK ready to defend stronghold, leader says
September 9, 1996
Web posted at: 11:00 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT)
(CNN) -- The leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said Monday that thousands of Kurds are fleeing the fighting in northern Iraq. U.N. observers couldn't confirm a mass exodus, but witnesses reported a steady stream of refugees leaving towns in the area, including Sulaimaniya, the PUK's last major stronghold.
A U.N. official in Sulaimaniya said the PUK administration and most of its fighters had abandoned the town in Iraq's northern mountains, leaving it effectively "undefended" against the advance of the Iraqi-backed Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
"The theory is they are on their way to the Iranian border," said U.N. security officer Mogens Hansen. "I think it's a matter of hours before something happens."
But Jalal Talabani, leader of the PUK, called the U.N. reports of his fighters fleeing the town "lies." He charged that the U.N. in the region is "pro-Iraq."
Talabani told CNN the civilian population of Sulaimaniya was "fleeing by the hundreds of thousands" towards the Iranian border, fearing the town will fall to KDP and Iraqi forces. But the PUK fighters, he said, will "defend the city to the last man."
The U.N. in Sulaimaniya said it has seen signs of civilians beginning to leave the city, but has also seen people arriving from the Koysanjak area following its fall to the KDP on Sunday.
PUK claims Iraqi troops still participating
Talabani charged that Iraqi forces participated in the capture of Koysanjak Sunday, but the U.N. said Monday it saw no obvious sign of Iraqi troop involvement.
The KDP also captured the town of Degala on Sunday.
U.N. sources in the north of Iraq said they believe the KDP is working mostly without the help of the Iraqis and that the KDP now has "its own momentum." Both the Iraqis and the KDP have denied they are working together, although Iraqi troops remain stationed nearby.
(15 sec/641K QuickTime movie: Kurdish Democratic Party fighters outside Koysanjak Sunday (Video provided by Kurdish TV))
U.N. officials said they expected the KDP's next target will be the strategic Dokan Dam. The PUK shut down the dam, which supplies power to Irbil, when they pulled out of the city last week.
Talabani said the dam is well-guarded by his forces, and that neither it nor Sulaimaniya were in immediate danger from the KDP. He said the PUK was cooperating with the U.N. to restore power to the dam for "humanitarian reasons."
KDP fighters were paused along the Sulaimaniya road Monday, awaiting orders on whether to turn toward the dam or continue on the road to the town.
"No decision has been made," a senior KDP official told Reuters. "The politburo is still discussing what to do."
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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