GWT: WRAP Peshmerga at abandoned Iraqi positions, village

(7 Apr 2003)

Near Dibagan, on the road between Irbil and Makhmur
1. Tracking shot of two anti-aircraft guns seized from Iraqis
2. Various of Kurdish fighters with captured anti-aircraft guns
3. Burnt out military truck
4. Destroyed tank
5. Various of US Special Forces vehicles
6. Various of US Special Forces troops and weapons
7. Wide of Kurdish military officers and soldiers
8. Wide of artillery explosion, UPSOUND gunfire
9. Wide of oil pipeline, running from Mosul into Syria
10. Close shot of oil pipeline

Near Kalak
11. Various of Kurdish fighters at checkpoint at the border with Iraqi-controlled territory

Sheikhan/Esefne, south-east of Dohuk
12. Wide shot of Iraqi defensive positions
13. Damaged check-point building with bullet holes and destroyed walls
14. Various of damage to buildings
15. Kurdish fighters
16. US Special Forces troops at site

Makhmur
17. Kurdish checkpoint on road near front-lines of fighting
18. Various of fighters at checkpoint
19. Various of abandoned Iraqi position

STORYLINE:

Sporadic fighting continued in parts of northern Iraq on Monday between Iraqi defenders and Kurdish fighters.

Iraqi and Kurdish forces clashed in the area between the Baghdad-controlled cities of Kirkuk and Mosul in northern Iraq on Monday.

US Special Forces units are also in the region, mainly to direct coalition artillery and airstrikes against Iraqi positions.

At Dibagan, on the road between Irbil and Makhmur, Kurdish fighters and US Special Forces troops held territory that was seized from Iraqi defenders on Sunday.

Also on Monday, APTN met Kurdish peshmergas near Makhmur, the scene of heavy fighting on Sunday.

"Peshmerga" is Kurdish for "those who face death" and the name used for the mostly-irregular militia force in Kurdish northern Iraq that opposes the Baghdad regime.

At a town called Sheikhan in Kurdish and Esefne in Arabic, about 45 kilometres (30 miles) south-east of the city of Dohuk, Kurdish and US troops on Monday were in control of a badly-ruined Iraqi defensive position that was bombed by coalition aircraft on Sunday.

Iraqi forces have generally fallen back under coalition air attacks, but have also regained ground in some areas when the bombardment has let up.

Iraqi troops regained some territory near the town of Kalak in the past few days. On Monday, peshmergas kept careful watch at a checkpoint a few kilometres (miles) from the area.

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