Kurd Advance Closes on Mosul and Kirkuk

Coalition forces moved to within 10 miles of Mosul yesterday amid signs that the Iraqi northern frontlines were starting to crumble and that the US was preparing a ground offensive.

Peshmerga troops of the Kurdistan Democratic party, fighting alongside US special forces, took a strategic ridge on Maqloub mountain early yesterday. The assault followed air strikes, and there appears to have been little resistance

US armour also appeared in the north, the tanks and fighting vehicles having been flown in.

Maqloub, 10 miles north-east of Mosul, is the last geographical barrier before Iraq's third largest city, said Hoshyar Zebari, the KDP foreign relations chief.

"This is our most important gain so far. The road to Mosul is now open militarily," he said. "The Iraqi army seems very demoralised and their lines are beginning to break down right across the northern front -from the west to the east."

He predicted that the northern front, relatively quiet until now, would become "much more aggressive". The advance came a day after the peshmerga, supported by US troops and air strikes, came within sight of Kirkuk. A commander for the forces of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which controls the eastern part of the Kurdish self-rule from Sulaimaniya, said his forces commanded a plateau six miles north of the city: "We have a panoramic view of the region."

Kurdish-US forces were also advancing slowly on Kirkuk from the south-east, he said. "But we must be careful. Iraqis could ignite the oilfields."

The US presence was strengthened yesterday by the arrival of a number of tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, attack helicopters and other material at Harir airstrip, 30 miles north of the regional capital, Irbil.

Kurdish sources said more ground troops were due today and tomorrow, taking their number to around 5,000.

Most observers believe that Kirkuk rather than Mosul will be first on the coalition's hit list. "Mosul we have to leave till last," a Kurdish commander said.

"There is still some hardcore Saddam people there. The Fedayeen have people terrified. It will be much more messy. In Kirkuk there is a large Kurdish population, and so it will be easier."

Turkey is particularly sensitive about Kurdish advances, worried that control of oil revenue could give Iraqi Kurds an economic platform for independence. Mr Zebari insisted that peshmerga forces would not make any move without the agreement of central command. "We are showing the restraint and discipline required of an ally," he said.