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Iraq
Clashes between Iraqi Kurd, Shiite fighters kill seven
2015-11-13
[AlAhram] Clashes between Iraqi Kurdish and Shia fighters north of Baghdad killed seven people Thursday, an official said, illustrating major fault lines between ostensible allies against the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
jihadist group.

The violence poses a significant threat in provinces where both forces operate, where it could inspire further unrest.

The fighting killed seven people and maimed 22, including civilians as well as combatants, said Shallal Abdul Baban, the local official responsible for the area.

Some 40 people from both sides have been detained in connection with the unrest, he said.

The violence began at a checkpoint near the town of Tuz Khurmatu and then spread inside it, and led to the closure of the main road linking Baghdad with the autonomous Kurdish region.

Gunmen from both sides took up positions in buildings in the town and used automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades in the fighting, said Ridha Mohammed Kawthar, the head of the local security committee.

A curfew was announced due to the violence, Kawthar said, and Baban said the fighting had stopped by Thursday evening.

Kurdish officials blamed Shia fighters for the start of the violence, saying they refused to stop at a checkpoint, leading to a dispute that escalated into festivities.

But Mohammed al-Bayati, a leader in the Badr militia, said a group of Shia fighters including some of his group's forces were attacked by Kurdish forces "for no reason".

Iraqi Kurdish forces and members of the Popular Mobilisation units, which are dominated by Iran-backed Shia militias, have been two of the most effective forces in the battle against the Islamic State group, which overran large parts of the country last year.

But while both forces are opposed to the jihadists and have cooperated at times, they differ sharply in their loyalty and aims.
Posted by:trailing wife

#1  The Badr milita killed and maimed a lot of Americans.
I hope they got the bad end of the fight with the Kurds, who are communist.
Posted by: jvalentour   2015-11-13 00:55  

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