US troop reinforcements approach Kirkuk

KIRKUK, Iraq (AFP) Apr 11, 2003
US troop reinforcements were approaching the Kirkuk Friday to make secure the northern Iraqi city seized Thursday by Kurdish fighters, a senior Kurdish official, Barahm Salah, said.

"They are on their way to Kirkuk," said Salah, who is the "prime minister" of the autonomous zone of northern Iraq administered by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

Other Kurdish sources said the US reinforcements were expected in Kirkuk by the end of the afternoon

Salah said the Kurdish fighters who captured the city Thursday along with US special forces would withdraw "as quickly as possible, but not before a sufficient number of American troops have arrived."

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