Word: ansar
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...battle rages, fierce and bloody, perhaps the heaviest fighting northern Iraq has seen so far in this war. U.S. special forces are here, along with their Kurdish allies, facing down Ansar al-Islam, the diehard terrorist group based in Kurdish-controlled Iraq that the Americans believe is linked to al-Qaeda. "There are three or four isolated pockets of Ansar on very high ground. We're closing in on them from everywhere we can," says an American commando named Mark, who declines to give his rank or surname. The fire coming down from the craggy peak is torrid. Machineguns rattle...
...Ansar's best assets are their snipers. The day before, a single shooter halted an entire advance of Kurdish soldiers, known as peshmerga ("those who face death"), belonging to the pro-American Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the main Kurdish political parties. The American commandoes have taken to calling the P.U.K. "the Puck" and the Peshmerga "the Pesh." "We were doing well until that sniper," a Special Forces soldier tells his buddy. "I wanted to drop some mortar on top of him but the pesh were too close." On this day's battle, three American snipers lay behind...
...Through four hours of battle, I saw U.S. forces drill the three Ansar positions with mortars, heavy machinegun and anti-aircraft artillery, 40mm grenades and 500 pound bombs dropped from planes overhead. Still, the fire was returned by an enemy clearly visible through binoculars. At one point, three Ansar fighters simply stood on a mountain ledge, not flinching at the torrent of fire poured at them. At one stage one defender screamed "God is Great," even as grenades and heavy rounds peppered the cave he had ducked into...
...director general for security, a man who goes by the name of Dr. Khasraw, hints there may have been more substance to the split between the Islamic groups. Indeed he readily makes concessions for the local militants, suggesting somewhat sympathetically that Komal's logistic support for Ansar's attempted assassination on the Kurdish prime minister earlier this year may have been given without the leadership's knowledge. "They cannot account for individuals," he says. He confirmed government discussions had been underway with Komal, but did not give details...
...American advisers have recently been seen visiting PUK command posts on the Ansar frontline. Speculation abounds that U.S. bombers will soften the terrorists' bunkers in the lead-up to a Kurdish assault. Anything Komal could have offered in whittling away Ansar's support would have been helpful to the cause. That is now lost, with mourner's at Qasre's funeral charging the PUK with his assassination, rejecting claims that government soldiers had overreacted in nervous anticipation of another suicide bomber. That suggests they've been pushed back into the arms of Ansar, who may be the biggest beneficiaries...