Posted on 02/26/2003 1:17:05 PM PST by knighthawk
AN Islamic militant has detonated a bomb at a military checkpoint in northern Iraq, killing himself and three other people, Kurdish officials said.
The bombing in the north-eastern city of Halabja was blamed on the militant group Ansar al Islam, according to officials of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which rules the eastern half of the Kurdish autonomous in northern Iraq.
The Patriotic Union and Ansar have been fighting for control of villages and hilltop positions near Halabja for two years. Earlier this month, Ansar operators assassinated a top Patriotic Union official in the region.
The United States has also accused Ansar of cooperating with the Baghdad regime of Saddam Hussein, which it accuses of harbouring weapons of mass destruction and defying UN weapons inspectors.
The suicide bomber was in a car heading to Halabja when it was stopped at the checkpoint, one of many inspection stations on area roads, said Dildar Kittani, a Kurdish government spokeswoman.
The suicide bomber, who has not been identified, also killed the driver of the car and two checkpoint guards. The driver "was not believed to have any links to Ansar," Kittani said.
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