Kurdish chief shot dead

Herald Sun ^ | 9 Feb 2003

[Fitzcarraldo]

ATTACKERS opened fire on a group of senior Kurdish figures, killing a political leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and two others, a party military commander said.

The commander blamed Islamic extremists from the Ansar al-Islam organisation for the attack last night on General Shawkat Haji Mushir, a member of the political leadership of the party, which controls the eastern section of the Kurdish autonomous region of northeast Iraq.

Sheik Jaffar Mustafa, PUK military commander of the nearby town of Halabja said the three attackers also killed Hekmat Osman, PUK security chief of the Sirwan district, and Sardar Qafoor, military commander of Sirwan district, and three civilians - a man, a woman and a child.

Mohamad Tawfiq, security chief of Halabja was seriously injured, he said.

Ansar al-Islam has been at war with the PUK for two years.

Mustafa said Mushir had been expecting to receive an Ansar defector at the house at about 10.20pm, when the attack occurred.

Instead of defecting, the Ansar member and two other Ansar men opened fire with Kalashnikov semi-automatic weapons and grenades.

[eastforker]

Semi-auto rifles,me thinks this reporter hasn't a clue.

[Dog]

Al-Qaeda!

This is how Bin Laden took out the guy in Afghanistan before 9/11!

Folks the war just started!

[laconic]

Timing here is interesting; if this was done by AlQaeda, remember September 9, 2001 when they assassinated Massoud in the non-Taliban part of Afghanistan; that was apparently the lead-in signal to attack the US on September 11th.

[dixiechick2000]

"Mustafa said Mushir had been expecting to receive an Ansar defector at the house at about 10.20pm, when the attack occurred.

Instead of defecting, the Ansar member and two other Ansar men opened fire with Kalashnikov semi-automatic weapons and grenades."

This sounds like pre-9/11 Afghanistan. Massoud (sp?) was killed by "reporters" who turned out to be al Qaeda.

[Dog]

Uh oh...your right!

[Dog]

Batten down the hatches....stormy weather ahead.

[dixiechick2000]

Yep. Damn...

[Dog]

Lock and Load!

[Mo1]

This is how Bin Laden took out the guy in Afghanistan before 9/11!
Folks the war just started!

You're right, I had forgotten about that

[Dog]

Freep mail Mo...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Here is some detail:

Al Qaeda's Opening Shot-Terrorists Assassinate 4 Generals of pro-US Kurdistan Militia

Of course it is from DEBKA but correlates ok!

[ninonitti]

Instead of defecting, the Ansar member and two other Ansar men opened fire with Kalashnikov semi-automatic weapons and grenades."

Memo to Self: Take No Prisoners OR Defectors

[kinghorse]

Everybody was thinking the same thing when they tried to off Karzai last year. I'll believe it when I see it.

[Semper911]

We were all thinking the same thing as we read the headline. Afghanistan, just prior to 9/11.

And so it begins...

[anobjectivist]

Okay, spooky thing.

Right before 9-11 when I heard of the guy leading taliban opposition somewhere in the middle east I told several people that something is about to go down over there, and it ended up over here. This really sends of buzzers in my head.

[RippleFire]

BUMP

[dixiechick2000]

Now THAT sounds like a plan!

[abner]

This is how Bin Laden took out the guy in Afghanistan before 9/11!

Massoud.

[dixiechick2000]

"We were all thinking the same thing as we read the headline."

Some things just scream out at you.