U.S. tank crews from the 2nd Battalion, a part of the 3rd Infantry Division, maintain their equipment after moving in northern Kuwait on March 20

NORTHERN KUWAIT (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - U.S. infantry units moved closer to the Iraqi border early on Thursday, March 20, positioning themselves for an expected ground invasion, a Reuters reporter attached to one battalion said.

Members of the U.S. Third Infantry Division left their assembly area in the Kuwaiti desert and drove through the night toward the border to set up forward positions closer to the frontier, the reporter said.

The reporter said the troops' new position was outside the demilitarized zone along the Kuwait-Iraq border.

The soldiers had not been instructed to wear their chemical weapons suits, although all were carrying gas masks, and many appeared unaware that U.S. forces had launched air strikes against Baghdad earlier on Thursday.

The United States and Britain have massed some 280,000 around Iraq ready for a war to attack Iraq.

Al-Jazeera satellite channel reported Wednesday, March 19 that U.S.-led forces have moved into the Kuwaiti side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) along the Iraq-Kuwait border, in a clear sign that war is edging closer.

Six U.S. Navy Vessels Fired Cruise Missiles At Iraq: Spokesman

Meanwhile in Washington, a U.S. Navy spokesman said that six U.S. navy vessels, including two submarines, fired cruise missiles at Iraq during raids early Thursday.   

The missiles were fired over Saudi Arabia as Turkey has not given overflight rights to the U.S. military, said spokesman Lieutenant Whit DeLoach.

The vessels involved were named as the cruisers USS Cowpens and USS Bunker Hill, the destroyers USS Milius and USS Donald Cook and the submarines USS Cheyenne and USS Montpelier.

"They are in the Middle East," DeLoach said of the vessels.