By an OGJ correspondent
NICOSIA, Apr. 10 -- The US and Turkey were seeking to avoid confrontation Thursday over Iraq's northern oil fields, as US and Kurdish forces captured the city of Kirkuk and advanced on Mosul in their efforts to wrest control of the region from remaining forces loyal to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
"Kurdish fighters are firing into the air to celebrate their victory. Residents of Kirkuk have spilled into the streets in jubilation," said correspondent Nevin Sungur of the Turkish television channel NTV in a live telephone report from the city.
Earlier, US special operations forces and Kurdish fighters captured an Iraqi radar and communications center perched on a mountain summit 10 miles northeast of Mosul after coalition aircraft struck the peak to open the way for a ground assault.
"From our perspective it was the most important gain and development so far," said Hoshyar Zebari, a leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, one of two Kurdish factions controlling the northern region. "This shows the crumbling of the northern front."
Move on Mosul, Kirkuk denied
Kurdish commanders and politicians generally have been careful to deny that their forces would move on Mosul and Kirkuk alone, but they have not ruled out doing so under US command and as part of the Iraqi opposition.
Even as late as Wednesday night, Commanders in Chamchamal, a Kurdish-controlled town some 22 miles east of Kirkuk, said local "peshmerga" fighters had no plans to launch an assault, although the lightly armed forces were clearly keen to move. "We are not intending to attack Kirkuk," said senior Kurdish commander Mam Rostam.
Still, US Special Forces were reported Wednesday to have issued a "blunt warning" to some 3,000 "overzealous" Kurdish fighters who had gathered to march toward Kirkuk. "We told them to cool it," said a US official in the region. "Our people are there now, trying to keep the 'pesh' from taking things into their own hands."
The sudden advance nonetheless set off alarms in Turkey on Thursday, with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul announcing plans to dispatch Turkish "observers" to Kirkuk, and receiving assurances from Sec. of State Colin Powell that US forces would arrive in a "few hours" to maintain control over the town.
Turkey, which had requested written assurance from the US administration that the Kurdish groups would not enter Mosul or Kirkuk, instead received a verbal assurance during Powell's visit to Ankara last week. After a day of meetings with senior Turkish leaders, Powell said the two sides agreed to establish a "coordination committee" to monitor northern Iraq to determine if a Turkish deployment would be necessary.
"I think we have demonstrated to our Turkish friends that we are monitoring the situation closely, we have it under control, and therefore at the moment, there is no need for any movement of Turkish forces across the border," Powell said. He added that the two sides would continue discussing "how we would respond to a problem that might arise in northern Iraq that might affect Turkish interests."
Kurdish state sought
Ankara wants to send as many as 40,000 troops across the border, largely to block any move to establish an independent Kurdish state. It has repeatedly warned Iraqi Kurds to stay away from Kirkuk and Mosul, fearing takeover of the oil-rich region could provide the economic backbone of an independent nation.
With a sizeable Kurdish population within its own borders, Turkey has even launched high-level contacts with its neighbors Iran and Syria, which also have large Kurdish populations and likewise fear moves toward an independent Kurdish state.
Kirkuk and Mosul became the main objectives of a joint thrust by US special forces and Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq that began after plans to launch a heavier attack through Turkey had to be dropped (OGJ Online, Mar. 28, 2003). The US contingent is thought to number around 2,000 men, but along with the 60,000-strong Kurdish army, it has succeeded in pinning down half the Iraqi army—120,000 men in two and a half corps—for the duration of the 3-week war.
Although largely overshadowed by the fight in southern Iraq, the campaign in the north appeared to have succeeded Thursday as US and Kurdish forces swept into a host of towns dotted among the region's oil fields, meeting little or no opposition along the way. In the oil-producing city of Khaneqin, Kurdish forces took control without a fight, while Kurds and US special operations troops met no resistance as they moved into Dibis, where the oil facilities were reported to be "completely intact."
