PUK loses 43 of its Fighters 

(The Kurdistan Observer) Sep 24, 2001. A column published by the London-based Al- 
Hayat today reports that on Sunday 23, fighting broke out between the forces of Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and a new fundamentalist group called Jund Al-Islam near Tapa
Drozna,  a strategic location that overlooks the main road between Sulemaniya and Halabja.

As the result 43 PUK fighters were killed.

According to some sources in Kurdistan, the PUK is preparing to send their elite forces
to the battleground areas.
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