Iraqi Air Raids Hit Rebel-Held Cities, Kurds Say

Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, claiming further gains against President Saddam Hussein’s forces, said the government launched a wave of air attacks Monday on rebel-held cities.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan said the early-morning raids could mark a new stage in Hussein’s bid to crush postwar revolt after his defeat in Kuwait. It appealed for help from the United States, saying that bombers and helicopters killed or wounded many people in three raids against Kirkuk and the neighboring city of Dhouk.

Washington has warned Baghdad against air attacks on rebels as a breach of a temporary cease-fire ending the six-week Gulf War and has threatened to shoot down Iraqi warplanes. Two Soviet-made jets were downed last week.

Late Monday in Washington, the State Department said in a statement, “We now believe that Kirkuk has fallen under the control of the dissidents.” The insurgents have claimed control of the city for nearly a week.

In Mosul, Iraq’s third-largest city, the Kurdish opposition said that more than 4,000 political prisoners were released when the jails were liberated.

Rebels also were reported to have shot down an Iraqi helicopter.

In addition, insurgent sources said anti-Hussein groups were meeting in a secret location to determine their next move in the effort to topple Hussein.

Hussein’s forces were reported faring better in the south. The Iraqi military has recaptured every major city in southern Iraq, according to resistance fighters and refugees who fled to U.S. military outposts Monday seeking food, shelter and asylum.

A Shiite Muslim group, the Islamic Action Organization, said Baghdad is under a virtual state of siege, with extra units of Hussein’s Republican Guard deployed “in expectation of a military coup.”

There were these other developments Monday:

* Iraq, in a letter to U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar, accused Iranian military units of crossing the border, firing on Iraqi soldiers and siding with rebels in the south. The letter cited 13 border incidents that allegedly took place earlier this month.

* Iraq submitted a detailed list to the United Nations of Kuwaiti government property it took from the emirate, including $457 million in gold, $600 million in currency and 11 boxes of Kuwaiti banknote printing plates.

In addition to the currency, Kuwait is demanding the return of documents looted from its libraries and museums.