"This is a grave development ... whose consequences will be borne by the Iraqi authorities," a spokesman said, adding that the KDP had refrained from taking any offensive action against Iraqi government forces since the US-led war was launched on March 20.

The surface-to-surface missiles were fired at Salahaddin, some 20 kilometers (13 miles) north of the main Kurdish city of Arbil, early Monday but landed in open space on the outskirts of the hilltop town, leaving craters in the ground, according to footage aired by the KDP's satellite television,

The KDP's military command for Arbil meanwhile claimed in a statement published in the Birayeti newspaper Tuesday that Iraqi authorities had stationed members of the paramilitary "Saddam's Fedayeen" in forward positions along the demarcation lines between government-held territory and KDP-controlled Arbil.

Regular forces were sent to rear positions in a bid to prevent their "collapse" after some members defected to the Kurdish-held zone, the KDP command claimed.

The KDP and other Iraqi opposition groups have alleged in recent days that a number of Iraqi officers and soldiers crossed into the Kurdish enclave, jointly controlled by the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), but that many others were "executed" for attempting to defect.

Iraqi forces have made some tactical pullbacks along front lines with the Kurdish enclave, allowing the US-allied Kurdish fighters to advance to within 16 kilometers (10 miles) of the strategic oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

The Kurdish lines have been targetted by sporadic Iraqi rocket and mortar fire.

SPACE.WIRE