Troops build up northern front in Iraq

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq -- The U.S. military's northern front against Iraq appears to be building, with American planes landing in the Kurdish north and more airstrikes pounding positions of a militant Islamic group with alleged al-Qaida and Baghdad ties.

Four U.S. planes carrying "scores" of American military personnel landed at the Bakrajo airstrip, 10 miles west of Sulaymaniyah, late Saturday, a high-level Kurdish official said on condition of anonymity. They joined Special Operations troops already in the region.

Additional U.S. aerial attacks began Friday night and, a day later, targeted suspected positions of the militant Ansar al-Islam group, military officials said.

There were no details about casualties. The Friday night assault left scores dead, mostly members of another Islamist group accused of supporting Ansar, military officials said.

At the U.S. Central Command in Qatar, Lt. Gen. John Abizaid confirmed that the United States was "reinforcing our presence" in the north but gave no details.

The Kurdish official said more U.S. planes and personnel were scheduled to arrive in coming days and already may have landed at other airstrips in the Kurdish autonomous area, which has been under American and British aerial protection since the 1991 Gulf War.

The American planes originally were scheduled to land two months ago, but were delayed as Americans attempted to sort out a military strategy, the official said.

Ansar, as well as the Baghdad-controlled strategic oil cities of Kirkuk and Mosul, are possible U.S. targets, the official said. On Sunday, numerous bursts of anti-aircraft artillery were heard from the direction of Mosul.

The United States wanted to use Turkey to attack Iraq from the north, but the Turkish parliament refused to grant access to Turkish bases after weeks of wrangling over financial compensation and arrangements for sending Turkish troops into northern Iraq.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday his government was seeking to send troops into northern Iraq to prevent instability at the Turkish-Iraqi border.

Erdogan said in a televised address that he wanted to send soldiers into northern Iraq to quell any Kurdish rebellion and to prevent an influx of Iraqi refugees. He said Ankara and Washington had "reached agreement" on preventing a breakup of Iraq, but did not say whether that understanding included sending in Turkish troops.

Fearing Kurds

Turkey fears the Kurds, as Saddam Hussein's regime is overthrown, will seize the northern oil fields or establish an independent state, thus complicating Turkey's conflict with its own Kurdish minority. American officials fear clashes between Turkish forces and Iraqi Kurds.

Friday, Turkey said U.S. warplanes could fly through Turkish airspace on their way to Iraq.

Barham Salih, prime minister of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan government controlling the eastern half of the autonomous Kurdish enclave, declined to confirm the landing of U.S. forces. But he said such an incursion would be received warmly by the mostly pro-American Kurds.

"Americans are liberators," he said. "They are welcome in Iraq and they are welcome in Kurdistan. They are welcome to come here and help bring us freedom."

The Arabic-language television station Al-Jazeera, reporting from Sulaymaniyah, quoted witnesses as saying U.S. airborne troops landed by helicopter at a base near the city.

The Kurdish official said the planes landed in darkness, using no lights, and departed when the personnel left. Residents living near Bakrajo airstrip described loud, strange noises late Saturday night.

Small groups of American forces have scoured the countryside for months, and the Kurds long have awaited more.

Mohammad Haji Mahmoud, leader of the Kurdistan Social Democratic Party and a key member of the Iraqi opposition, said the Americans are welcome to use Kurdistan as a staging ground for a northern assault against Saddam's regime.

"We're not going to say no to anything the Americans want," he said. "America is the true liberator and the only one who could liberate us from this regime. We couldn't do it with our rusty Kalashnikovs in more than 40 years."

Key developments in the war Sunday

Iraqi television aired footage of what it said were dead Americans and interviews with five U.S. prisoners answering questions. U.S. officials confirmed that 12 soldiers were missing after an ambush near the southern city of An Nasiriyah.

The U.S. Central Command said Marines defeated Iraqi forces near An Nasiriyah in the sharpest engagement of the war so far. It said up to nine Marines were killed in the battle.

U.S. troops found a suspected chemical factory near the city of Najaf, about 85 miles south of Baghdad, and were trying to determine whether it was involved in making chemical weapons, U.S. officials said.

In Washington, President Bush demanded that American troops held captive in Iraq be treated humanely and said he was pleased with the progress of the war. "Saddam Hussein is losing control of his country," Bush said.

Explosions shook Baghdad early Monday as the Iraqi capital came under another heavy air attack.

A U.S. Patriot missile battery mistakenly shot down a British Royal Air Force fighter aircraft near the Iraqi border with Kuwait, killing both fliers on board.

A U.S. soldier was detained on suspicion of throwing grenades into three tents at a 101st Airborne command center in Kuwait, killing one fellow serviceman and wounding 15. The motive in the attack "most likely was resentment," a U.S. Army spokesman said.

A British television news reporter who disappeared in southern Iraq was believed dead. ITN television news said its reporter Terry Lloyd and two colleagues apparently were caught in a barrage of "friendly fire" on Saturday.

Hundreds of police and security agents in Baghdad searched for a possibly downed coalition pilot, shooting into the reeds and shallow water alongside the capital's Tigris River. The U.S. military said there were no reports of coalition aircraft being shot down or a missing pilot.

The U.S. military's northern front against Iraq appears to be building, with American planes landing in the Kurdish north and more airstrikes pounding positions of a militant Islamic group with alleged al-Qaida and Baghdad ties.

U.S. military leaders said they expect fighting in Iraq to intensify as coalition forces advance toward Baghdad, facing increased resistance from Saddam's troops and their possible use of chemical or biological weapons.-- AP