Ansar al-Islam Attacks PUK Military

A group of fighters belonging to Ansar al-Islam have launched two attacks on a base belonging to a peshmerga brigade of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK. The attacks on the base at Bani Shari Kon, north of Khurmal in the east of Sulaimaniyah province, each lasted about 45 minutes on the night of October 25-26, with both sides exchanging automatic fire and hand-held rocket grenades. No casualties were reported. A source at the PUK unit told Awene that advance warning was received two weeks earlier that Ansar al-Islam wanted to infiltrate the area and attack peshmerga units, so the latter were already on the alert. Bani Shari Kon was the home village of Hemin Bani Shari, an Ansar leader killed in Fallujah in the 2004 battle with United States troops.