The United States moved more forces into northern Iraq overnight, advancing plans to open up a northern front in the war to oust Iraqi President Saddam.
Journalists arriving at Harir airstrip today saw transport helicopters and vehicles and troops, which had come in overnight, on top of the first wave of 1,000 paratroopers, who arrived early on Thursday.
Some 50 to 60 jeeps and trucks were parked near the runway and around 150 troops were deployed around the airstrip.
They were digging in and setting up mortars to protect the airstrip from attack, although this is friendly Kurdish-held territory.Four large transport helicopters were standing on the tarmac, up from two which could be seen on Thursday.
The United States had long been expected to set up a northern front in the war against Saddam, and had originally planned to move 62,000 troops across Turkey into Iraq.
But Turkey's parliament refused to let US troops through Turkey, leading the United States to send paratroopers from the 173rd airborne brigade from Italy to northern Iraq on Thursday.
A northernmost corner of Iraq has been Kurdish-run, independent of Baghdad, since 1991 under the protection of a US and British patrolled no-fly zone, following a failed Kurdish uprising against Saddam which was brutally put down.