Kurds Executed 60 Iraqi Captives, Leaders Admit
NICOSIA, Cyprus — Fighting Tuesday between Iraqi government troops and Kurdish rebels left hundreds dead and wounded, according to a medical team and spokesmen for the rebels.
Kurdish leaders admitted that their supporters executed 60 Iraqi prisoners of war on Monday in Sulaymaniyah. A statement by the Kurdistan Democratic Party condemned the killings and said an inquiry has been launched.
News reports said the unarmed Iraqi POWs were shot while kneeling inside a building with their hands on their heads.
“The (Kurdistan Democratic Party) strongly condemns the killing of Iraqi prisoners, since this is a clear violation of Geneva conventions,†the party’s statement said.
Serchil Qazzaz, a representative of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, also said in Ankara, Turkey, that Iraqi troops began shelling Sulaymaniyah intensely Tuesday afternoon.
A spokeswoman for Doctors Without Borders, a humanitarian group, said in Brussels that about 400 people had died in the fighting.
As the worst outbreak of fighting in five months continued, a Kurdish group charged that Iraq was lowering water levels at the vital Dukan dam, 43 miles west of Sulaymaniyah.
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