SHASHIK, Iraq –– About 20 Kurdish militiamen were killed or injured Wednesday in a battle with Islamic militants believed to be linked to al-Qaida in northern Iraq, Kurdish military officials said.

Militants from the Ansar al-Islam seized two hilltop positions of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan near the city of Halabja, said Sheik Jaffar Mustafa of the Kurdish militia.

Mustafa said he believed his force had suffered about 20 casualties, but he did not know how had been killed and how many wounded because his side had been unable to retrieve the bodies. Nor did he know how many casualties the militants had suffered.

Smoke could be seen rising from near the two hills at the base of the Suren Mountains along the Iraq-Iran border. The guerrillas from Ansar al-Islam fired heavy artillery as they charged the Kurdish positions, Mustafa said.

While some of the Ansar al-Islam forces are Kurds, Mustafa said they also include Arab Afghans believed to have ties to the al-Qaida terrorist movement of Osama bin Laden. Some fighters from the group have said they trained in al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan but denied having any current links to bin Laden´s group.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan rushed in reinforcements from its special forces as ambulances took wounded fighters to Halabja, six miles away. Officials at the Halabja hospital said they treated six victims of gunshots. (© 2002 The Associated Press 12/04/02)