Dozens dead in north Iraq raids

Dozens dead in north Iraq raids

By Jim Muir BBC correspondent in Anab, north-eastern Iraq

Local villagers are fleeing the carnage

American planes have carried out a bombing raid on positions in north-eastern Iraq held by the Ansar al-Islam, a radical Muslim faction which Washington insists is linked to al-Qaeda.

This follows a heavy missile strike on the same area on Friday night in which at least 60 people were killed, many of them from another Islamic group.

It is expected that a ground offensive will be launched against the Ansar al-Islam in the coming days by the Kurdish faction which controls the surrounding area in the mountains close to the border with Iran.

At around 0400 local time on Sunday, jets appeared in the sky over the rugged mountains where the Ansar al-Islam have their strongholds.

Four bombs were dropped, two by two, lighting up the sky with brilliant orange flashes, with the blasts echoing around the hills.

It was not immediately apparent what exactly had been hit. But this attack was much less sustained than the heavy missile strike carried out on Friday night, when at least 70 cruise missiles hit the area.

There were heavy casualties.

Some reports said around 60 people were killed, though the main Kurdish faction which controls the surrounding area, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said 150 people may have died.

Many of them were not from the Ansar al-Islam but were in an area just to the west of the Ansar controlled by another Islamic faction, the Komala. It had been warned by the PUK to distance itself from the Ansar but had apparently not done so.

The bombardments that are being carried out now are clearly in preparation for a ground offensive that the PUK is preparing to launch, possibly early in the week and perhaps with the help of US special forces to clear the Ansar out of the area.

Both the Americans and the PUK accuse Ansar of being terrorists responsible for carrying out a number of assassinations and bombings.

On Saturday a suicide car bomb attack was carried out at a PUK checkpoint, killing four people, including an Australian cameraman.

The Ansar are reported to have threatened more such attacks as their positions come under mounting pressure.