1) Information on Kurdish rebel groups along the Iraq border with Iran and Syria 2) Iraqi areas under control of Kurdish rebels between April and November 1988; major events there in October 1988 3) Information on the Iraqi army and its deployment in northern Iraq 4) information on dissident political parties of Iraq, particularly those related to Kurdish rebels or the Syrian Baath party 5) Detailed map of northern Iraq [IRQ1050]

For questions 1 and 4, please find attached copies of the pages 171-175 of Revolutionary and Dissident Movements, (London:Longman, 1988), and "Les principales organisations politiques", in L'Etat des Conflits dans le Monde, (Paris: Le Monde, 1988), pp. 120 and 121, which provide information on Kurdish rebel groups of Iraq. They all operate in the Kurdish regions of the country, which border Turkey, Syria and Iran. In addition to the information provided by the abovementioned publication, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran - Revolutionary (a result of a recent internal division within the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran) and the Komala, both Kurdish rebel groups operating in Iran, are reported to have bases and social support in Iraqi territory, but their leaders deny receiving support from Iraq. ["Les perdants de la paix irano-irakienne", in L'Etat des Conflits dans le Monde, (Paris: Le Monde, 1988), p. 123.]
Regarding questions 2 and 3, no precise information on the areas controlled by Kurdish rebels in Iraq, between April and November 1988, could be found among the sources presently available to the IRBDC. However, a number of military victories by Iraqi Kurdish rebels were reported during 1987 and 1988, including the capture of towns and the weakening of Iraqi armed forces in the region known as Kurdistan. [ Keesing's Record of World Events, (London, Longman Publishing Group), pp. 35862- 35863.] Nevertheless, some rebel positions were reportedly overrun by Iraqi forces in February and March of 1988. [ "Too close to home for comfort", in The Middle East magazine, February 1989, p. 20.] The Kurdish rebels were reportedly backed by Iranian Revolutionary Guards. [ Ibid.] In March 1988, the Iraqi Air Force retaliated against the Revolutionary Guards who had captured the town of Halabja, by bombing with chemical weapons which affected thousands of civilian Kurds. [ Ibid, p. 35863.]
A month before the August 1988 cease-fire agreement between Iraq and Iran, Iraq was able to concentrate its armed forces against the Kurdish rebel groups. [ "Des armes chimiques utilisees contre les Kurdes d'Irak", in L'Etat des Conflits dans le Monde, p. 122.] On August 5, Iraq used twelve armoured brigades and eighteen light infantry battalions supported by artillery and aircraft for an attack on Shirwan and Sidakan. ["Too close to home for comfort", p. 20.] Before the major Iraqi offensive on the area, the Iranian forces had retreated from their positions inside Iraq, including the town of Halabja, reportedly without notifying the Kurdish rebels, leaving strategic positions open for the Iraqi army. [Ibid.]

After the Iran-Iraq cease-fire agreement went into effect, Iraq sent the Seventh Army Corps and the Presidential Guard Corps into the area to strengthen the First and Fifth Corps which were already deployed in the region. [ Ibid.] The following offensive resulted in the flight of thousands of Kurds into Turkey, and a substantial decrease in rebel activities in the Iraqi Kurdistan. [ Ibid, pp. 21-22.]
For more information on the Iraqi army, please find attached a copy of the section on Defense of Iraq, pages 976 and 977 of The Encyclopedia of the Third World, (New York: Facts on File, Second Edition, 1987). In addition to this information, the Latin American Newsletters Special Reports on "The Latin American arms trade" (London, 1984), p. 5, reports that Brazil has become an important supplier of weapons for Iraq. No specific information on units stationed around Darbandy Khan (as requested) could be found among the available sources.
Please find attached a copy of the map of northern Iraq found in The Times World Atlas, (London: The Times, Seventh Edition), plate 34.