A Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dan Stoneking said he was unable to confirm the report, which was carried on the magazine's internet web page.

US News said that the so-called Free Iraqi Freedom Fighters (FIFF) were connected to the Iraqi National Congress (INC), an opposition group composed of Iraqis from the south and center who joined the Kurds in the north.

It said the US military has moved about 100 to 200 FIFF members to the south so they could evaluate their fighting skills.

"We are relocating, reorganizing, and reconstituting" them, a US official was quoted as saying.

US officials said they expect the FIFF will be armed and assigned to fight alongside U.S. special forces, US News said.

SPACE.WIRE