European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 26, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday october 26, 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 9u.n. Races to save kurd from col Relief efforts slowed by fear of iraqi attacks by j. King Cruger Mediterranean Bureau the fear of attacks from Saddam Hussein a forces is hindering efforts to provide shelter for hundreds of thousands of kurdish refugees As Winter closes in. Temperatures already Are plunging below freezing at night in the High Zagrous Mountain passes along the iranian Border. There thousands of displaced kurd some of whom have been there for months and Many recently returned from Iran huddle in tents and hastily constructed lean tos according to Izumi Nakamitsu a spokeswoman for the . High commissioner for refugees. As Many As 1.8 million of the 3.5 million kurd living in Northern and Eastern Iraq were forced to flee the country after the iraqi presidents troops crushed a kurdish uprising following operation desert storm. A million kurd fled to Iran and the rest to Border regions with Turkey. After Allied coalition forces of operation provide Comfort established a Delaware sized Security zone in Northern Iraq to protect them kurd who had fled into Turkey returned. A the needs of the people who have returned to the Security zone Are being Well taken care of a Nakamitsu said in a Telephone interview thursday from the Una cry a Branch office in Ankara Turkey. Shelter must still be provided for 5,000 to 6,000 people in the Security zone but Nakamitsu said she was confident this could be accomplished before the Onset of Winter. Kurd living in the Security zone Are rebuilding houses and Are largely being helped in their resettlement efforts by a number of nongovernmental Volunteer organizations operating there. Efforts to resettle people outside the Security zone Are not going As smoothly Nakamitsu said. By the end of september at least 650,000 kurd remained away from their Homes largely in Eastern Iraq outside the Security zone according to a . Report. Their numbers May be growing because Iran reportedly has been forcing kurd to return to Iraq. A there Are still people coming from Iraq on a daily basis a Nakamitsu said. Out of the hundreds of thousands of displaced kurd some have decided to Settle in the ruins of their original villages while others a in temporary shelters in the mountains a Are awaiting the outcome of negotiations Between Baghdad and the kurdish leadership. Plans to move Many of the latter group Down from the mountains were set Back by outbreaks of fighting earlier this month. During the first week of october scores were reported killed including 60 captured iraqi soldiers executed by kurdish guerrillas in heavy fighting South of Kirkuk and about 100 Miles Northeast of Baghdad. The fighting the heaviest since the ceasefire Between kurd and Iraq in March sent As Many As 50,000 kurd fleeing for safety toward a Alayjah and Penguin on the sealed iranian Border according Quot tvs Quot a it a. To w t a. R a a i Quot v >1 hundreds of kurd await helicopters bringing food to a refugee Camp in Isi Kvern Turkey last Spring. File photo to news reports. A couple of weeks before that clash fighting near another town in the area had caused a Community a entire population of 40,000 inhabitants to pick up and move away said a . State department adviser to operation provide Comfort. A people the kurd keep getaway kits by their front doors in Case the situation deteriorates a said the adviser who asked not to be identified. While Many kurd Are expected to move Down to the valleys where permanent shelter is available in towns or in the collective villages built by Saddam after he destroyed 4,000 kurdish villages during the 1980s, the Unher has made special arrangements for those who will not move or who Are reluctant to build yet again. The american adviser recalled meeting a kurd who had had his House knocked Down four times in previous conflicts. A a it a very hard to motivate him to build it a fifth time a the american said. The Unher estimates that if All goes Well a and that a a big if a the organization will have to provide shelter for an estimated 62,000 families 372,000 people who May remain in exposed areas where temperatures drop to Well below freezing As part of its winterization plans for the refugees the Unher began one of its largest logistics operations Ever on sept. 25, when truck convoys began carrying building supplies from Turkey into Iraq. A the Unher spent $15 million in Turkey purchasing supplies for the winterization program a Nakamitsu said. The Unher estimates that 1,800 trucks will be needed to get All the supplies delivered and that the winterization program will be completed by the end of november. A fall the supplies should have been dispatched by now. As of wednesday 1,300 trucks had crossed into Iraq and All the remaining ones should Cross within the next week a Nakamitsu said although Many villagers have already started to insulate their makeshift dwellings with mud bricks and with stones from destroyed villages the Una cry a shelter program will Aid their efforts by supplying them with timbers roofing materials tools blankets stoves Heaters Jerry fuel cans mattresses and Winter clothing. Moreover some 15,000 Winter tents will be kept in Reserve. Meanwhile . Officials Are anxiously watching to see what will happen in an area around Kirkuk a Large City with a significant kurdish minority population. About 150,000 kurd Are from the Kirkuk area the disputed Oil Center claimed by both the kurd and Baghdad. They have been prevented from returning to the City often violently by iraqi forces. The state department recently demanded that Iraq Grant . Relief officials Access to the City. A the kurd have told us that they will be willing to return to Kirkuk providing that there is a Unher office there to look after them but so far we have been prevented from opening one. The . Believes that no one should be forced to return there a Nakamitsu said. A was an alternative the . Has a plan to relocate those kurd for the Winter in Public buildings in collective villages in the area. A if they move into the collective villages we think there will be enough shelter in the  although no stocks of food Are on hand in areas the Unher spent $15 million in Turkey purchasing supplies for the winterization program a Izumi Nakamitsu East of the Security zone the american adviser expects that existing food programs should be Able to funnel sufficient food supplies into the Region. Food stockpiles Are expected to be sufficient within the Security zone a vast Grain growing area serving As iraqis breadbasket to see the inhabitants through the Winter. A we got them Back into the zone in time to Harvest the crop they had planted before they fled a the american adviser said. A the real damage to the area on both sides of the Border was done to Orchards. They were chopped Down by the iraqis and were scavenged for firewood by the kurd on the turkish  there is an acute shortage of school supplies in Northern Iraq the adviser said. A the curriculum has stayed the same with lots of Praise for Saddam and the baath party a he said adding a that must strike the kurdish kids As somewhat