IRAQ. Autonomous Region in Northern Iraq controlled by Kurdish parties. PUK controlled territory. Villages south of Taq-Taq. March, 2003. Kurdish civilians, smugglers and Peshmerga fighters celebrate the beginning of the Kurdish-Iranian New Year Nowruz, a ancient zoroastrian tradition by burning tires on the hills outside their villages near the frontline with Iraqi government forces North of the Iraqi controlled city of Kirkuk at first days of the US led campaign against Iraq.