I may have missed a previous occurance of this, but as far as I know this is the first recorded instance of Iraqi Army units fighting each other.
This is bad news. It is, in fact, very bad news. It shouldn't surprise anyone (click through to the story) that it was Kurds fighting Shiites. It is clearly not open warfare (only one military and one civilian death), but it does showcase the hostility between the groups, and the utter lack of command and control that anyone (American or Iraqi) has over organized units (left obviously unsaid is the fact that they are willing to start shooting each other).
Not a good milestone.
Posted by baltar at May 13, 2006 01:58 AM | TrackBack | Posted to International Affairs | Iraq | Military AffairsDid you link to the wrong story? All the hostile-action references in that one are to "suspected insurgents" and I'm not finding any mentions of Kurds at all.
Posted by: jacflash at May 13, 2006 08:06 AM | PERMALINKThe link changed from last night. I'll see if I can find the story again.
On second look, AP has changed the story. It's still in that link (look at the last two paragraphs), but is given much less prominence.
Posted by: baltar at May 13, 2006 12:19 PM | PERMALINKHuh. I see it now, but I note the Shiite vs Kurd reference is gone. When they update stories like that one wonders whether it's because later, harder info contradicted early reports or because somebody spun 'em. But yeah, if it's something other than a mishap then it is indeed crazy-bad news.
Posted by: jacflash at May 13, 2006 12:56 PM | PERMALINK