U.S. infantry troops en route to Iraqi Kurdistan

Additional reporting by IOL Correspondent

SULAYMANIA, Iraq, January 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – The U.S. sent more military reinforcements to Iraqi Kurdistan, well-informed sources told IslamOnline on Saturday, January 25.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said the new enforcements include intelligence agents, supply experts and servicemen specialized in logistic preparations.

The sources said the U.S. troops entered the province under a veil of secrecy, riding U.N. land cruisers to mislead international reporters and media in Arbiel, the capital city of the province.

They added that the U.S. troops wandered about the governorate of Sulaymania, dominated by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of Galal Talabini, on Friday, January 25.

The tour, according to the sources, was to get acquainted with the main roads, the people living there and how they could safeguard the logistic supplies to be provided for the U.S. military in the region.

Preparations are under wary in Bakrat Goh, Sulaymania, to receive more U.S. military reinforcements expected to turn up within the few coming days, the sources said.

Eyewitnesses told IslamOnline's correspondent that U.S. experts recently visited a camp and a small airport established by the Iraqi army in 1988 in Bakrat Goh, noting that the airport could receive thousands of U.S. soldiers currently stationed in Turkish military bases in the days to come.

Al-Bish Marka troops – armed Kurdish militias belonging to the PUK and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) who dominate northern Iraq – placed the area under tight security and prevented landlords from approaching their land adjacent to the camp and the airport.

In the meantime, preparations are at full swing in Sulaymania and Arbiel to receive scores of U.S. infantry troops within a few days.

A myriad of tents has been set up in the Al-Salam camp, where the U.S. troops are expected to station, and the Kurdish pedestrians have been denied access to the region, which indicates that Iraqi Kurdistan will serve as a transit route for the U.S. troops heading for Iraq.

Sulaymania is Iraq's closest city to Kirkuk, the world's most oil-rich region.

There are about 40 political parties in the Iraqi Kurdistan region representing nationalist, socialist, Islamist and other affiliations.

Many of these parties emerged after the establishment of a Kurdish administration and a safe haven for the Kurds in northern Iraq in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War.

Kurds Set up Anti-aircraft Guns Along Border with Turkey

In a related development, the KDP has set up anti-aircraft guns along the border with Turkey, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent reported Saturday from the Turkish town of Silopi.

Turkish military preparations were also visible on the Turkish side of the border, the reporter said.

The Turkish army has set up a mobile bridge at at least one point over the small Hezil river, which forms the border between Turkey and Iraq near Silopi.

Thermal cameras, used to detect people in the dark, were also installed along the border.

Turkey has recently acknowledged that it has a certain number of troops in northern Iraq, where it has frequently held cross-border operations in pursuit of Turkish Kurdish rebels.

Press reports said earlier this month that Turkey had sent tanks into northern Iraq to reinforce its military presence in the breakaway enclave, which Ankara fears, may take advantage of possible turmoil to proclaim independence.

The Milliyet daily published a photograph showing a number of armored vehicles, including at least 10 tanks, which it said were at an airfield in Bamerni, 40 kilometers from the border with Iraq.

The newspaper said there were "more than 30" tanks at the airport, and quoted local residents as saying that Turkish troops had been in control of the airport for a long time.

Turkey has threatened to use force to prevent any independence moves by the Iraqi Kurds.

It also wants to stop any possible refugee wave within northern Iraq.

Fearful over the economic and political fallout of regional turmoil, Turkey is opposed to any U.S. military moves against Iraq.

But the only Muslim member of NATO has reluctantly started talks with U.S. officials on "limited" contributions it could make in a possible war.

Ankara is under pressure from Washington to allow the U.S. to use Turkish air bases as launch pads for strikes on Iraq and deploy tens of thousands of troops in Turkey as part of reported U.S. plans to invade Iraq from the north.