BAGHDAD,
March 27 (Islamonline.net & News Agencies) - Iraqi forces fired
around 50 missiles at U.S. troops parachuting into the Kurdish-held
north of the country, a military spokesman said here Thursday, March 27.
"We
fired 44 Tariq missiles and seven Raad missiles at the American forces
as they parachuted into Sulaymaniya," Hazim al-Rawi told
journalists, without saying if the missiles had caused casualties.
As
many as 1,000 U.S. airborne troops parachuted into Kurdish areas in
northern Iraq, establishing a base through which to bring in more troops
and tanks, Pentagon officials said.
The
troops from the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade parachuted into an
airfield some 75 kilometers northeast of Arbil, the main city in the
Kurdish enclave.
U.S.
transport planes landed in the eastern part of Kurdish-held northern
Iraq early Thursday, witnesses said, with U.S. troops seen deployed near
frontlines with the Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk.
"It's
the first sizeable force in northern Iraq," a U.S. defense official
said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Some
20 U.S. fighter planes from the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt bombed
several Iraqi targets in northern Iraq, including troop formations,
Iraqi air defenses and command and control bunkers, during the air drop,
pilots on the carrier said.
U.S.
operations here have been limited by Ankara's refusal to allow the use
of Turkish soil for a deployment into northern Iraq.
The
U.S. had initially hoped to send in 62,000 troops via Turkey.
The
paratroopers that were dropped in came from a base in Vicenza, Italy.
"We
are increasing the number of forces in the country every day," U.S.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.
"We're
increasing them in the north, we're increasing them in the south, we're
increasing them in the west."
Kurdish
Militia Seize Area Near Kirkuk
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Paratroopers
of the U.S. Army 173rd Airborne Brigade prepare their equipment at
the Harir airfield, 45 miles northeast of Arbil
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Kurdish
militia seized an abandoned Iraqi position guarding the approach to
Kirkuk Thursday, hours after the U.S. troops were parachuted.
The
Kurds struck near Kirkuk after Iraqi troops apparently abandoned their
position, an AFP reporter said.
Around
Kirkuk, fighters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) advanced
after spotting what appeared to be Iraqi troops pulling back from a
ridge they had been occupying.
They
took over the first main Iraqi position on the road to Kirkuk passing
over the ridge, which had been recently hit by a U.S. air strike.
Several
PUK fighters were seen moving along the ridge checking for any remaining
Iraqi troops.
"There
are no Iraqi troops on the hill. They pulled back in the afternoon. We
are checking the area in case they are planning an ambush, so we are not
moving any further forward for now," Rostam Hamid Rahim, a top PUK
commander, told AFP.
During
the day, fresh Anglo-American bombardment was reported on Iraqi
positions close to the border with Kalak in the northwestern
Kurdish-held section of Iraq.
Four
missiles hit Iraqi forces positioned on the hill facing Kalak,
eyewitnesses told AFP.
The
Kalak area is about 40 kilometers east of Mosul, the main northern Iraqi
city, which has been the target of U.S.-British bombing since the
unleashing of the war of aggression on Iraq.
Residents
near Bakrajo, where the pro-U.S. PUK has prepared an airstrip, said a
large numbers of planes were heard flying into the strip overnight.
The
area around the airfield was totally sealed off during the landings.
One
witness spoke of up to 40 planes landing, while another said the hum of
incoming and outgoing transport aircraft lasted up to three hours.
Along
with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the PUK has been running
northern Iraq outside Baghdad's control since 1991. The KDP controls the
western part of the Switzerland-sized Kurdish zone.
