One fighter, Azad Mohammed Ali, told an AFP correspondent that the peshmerga (Kurdish fighters) crossed the Manquba bridge around 2:30 pm.

Some peshmerga could be seen on a hill overseeing Khazer, 30 kilometresmiles) from Mosul but it was not possible to tell if Iraqi forces had evacuated Khazer, which lies beyond the bridge.

Forces loyal to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had attempted to stop the advance over the bridge with anti-tank rocket, mortar and gun fire but were subjected to heavy bombing from US warplanes.

Khazer and its Manquba bridge are strategic points in the advance on Mosul, a majority-Arab city of 1.5 million in a mostly Kurdish area some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Baghdad.

The battle began on Thursday morning between Iraqi forces and the peshmerga, supported by US special forces who directed aerial firepower onto the Iraqi positions.

US warplanes began their blitz on Thursday morning, after which the intensity subsided until picking up again in the evening, by which time Kurdish forces were 500 metres (yards) from the bridge.

The aerial bombardment continued until midnight before beginning again at dawn Friday.

SPACE.WIRE