LONDON Ñ Heavy fighting has broken out in northern Iraq between Iraqi Kurds and Islamic insurgents aligned with Saudi fugitive Osama Bin Laden.

Iraqi opposition sources said the fighting reached its peak on Tuesday in a search-and-destroy operation launched by the Kurdistan National Union. The sources said dozens of people were believed to have been killed.

The fighting caps months of tension in the north between Bin Laden agents and Kurdish separatists. Kurdish groups said the infiltration of hundreds of Bin Laden agents was encouraged by the Iraqi regime of President Saddam Hussein.

The sources said about 6,000 Kurdish fighters are participating in the offensive against the Bin Laden-aligned Jund Islam group. The group is said to comprise Arab mercenaries from Afghanistan, including those from the Hamas and the Egyptian Tawhid organizations.

The bulk of the fighting is reported in the area of Hurman in northern Iraq. The sources said tension is also reported around Mosul and Ramadi, where Jund Islam has recruited and trained non-Kurdish mercernaries.

The leader of Jund Islam has been identified as Abu Abdullah Al Shafai, a nomme de guerre. The London-based Al Hayat daily said he became commander in an agreement with the Saddam regime that allowed Bin Laden agents to enter Iraq from Iran.

The agreement included Iraqi training and other facilities for Jund Islam. Al Hayat, quoting Iraqi opposition sources, said the group helped the Iranian opposition Mujahadeen Khalq attack targets in Iran.

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