¡¡¡¡CAIRO, April 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Seventeen Kurds were killed and four others injured
Wednesday when an Iraqi missile was fired at a Kurdish village in northern
Iraq, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.
¡¡¡¡The missile slammed into the village of Kafri in northern Iraq, the report
quoted Kurdish sources in Irbil as saying.
¡¡¡¡No further details were given in the MENA report. But the incident came after
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein issued a stern warning to Kurdish leaders against
allying with the US-led invading forces.
¡¡¡¡Saddam's warning was issued in a letter sent to Jalal Talabani, leader of
the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), announced Iraqi Information Minister
Mohammad Said Al-Sahaf on Iraqi television.
¡¡¡¡A copy of the letter was also sent to Massoud Mustapha Barzani, head of the
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Sahaf said.
¡¡¡¡"I advise you not to rush toward anything that you will regret, as you know
that this leadership and the state leading the confrontation against the
invaders are staying," Saddam said in theletter.
¡¡¡¡The PUK and KDP have enjoyed de facto autonomy in northern Iraq since the
1991 Gulf war thanks to the protection of US and British warplanes imposing a
no-fly zone in their area.
¡¡¡¡Saddam expressed his anger at the Kurdish leaders for "flirting with
America and the Zionists," adding that such flirting "has entered a dangerous
phase now" by opening a northern front against Iraqi people and army.
¡¡¡¡"It is my moral, basic and constitutional duty to warn you of the dangers
of this game, if you have surrendered to it," he said.
¡¡¡¡Kurdish forces are currently pushing toward the strategic oil center of Kirkuk
and another major northern city of Mosul by taking over major positions
abandoned by Iraqi troops forced to flee by heavy coalition aerial bombardments.
¡¡¡¡Kurdish troops on Wednesday took an Iraqi position near the townof Kalak,
which is some 40 kms from Mosul, on the demarcation line between
Kurdish-controlled area and the government-controlled territories.
¡¡¡¡Thousands of US troops have parachuted in the Kurdish-controllednorth since
last week to set up a northern front to encircle the Iraqi capital of Baghdad in
the coming days. Enditem
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