The World - News from Sept. 24, 1989

Iraq has launched a new offensive against Kurdish guerrillas near the Iranian border, the first major assault in a year, a guerrilla spokesman said. The Iraqi army has sought to “encircle the region controlled by the (guerrillas) and move in to capture Kurdish bases,” said the official of the outlawed Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. Fighting has been centered north of Qala Diza, a city whose population was forcibly evacuated by Iraq several months ago in an effort to create a buffer zone along the Iranian border, the official added.