MOSUL, Iraq, Feb 2 (AFP) - Iraqi soldiers started Wednesday to take over combat outposts held by US soldiers in the restive northern city of Mosul under a plan to raise the visibility of Iraqi forces following the elections.
Soldiers from the 24th Battalion, 6th Brigade of the so-called Iraqi Intervention Force were seen moving into a bullet-riddled and partly destroyed outpost on Baghdad street in the New Mosul neighbourhood of western Mosul.
They ferried in supplies and set up machine-gun nests behind sandbag positions on the building's rooftops and windows.
The area is among the most tense and attack-prone in the city and was the scene of a suicide car and truck bombing at the end of December that killed one US soldier and wounded 20.
Much of the street in front of the outpost is blocked with concrete barriers and bears the scars of fierce fighting.
The Iraqi soldiers, part of 2,500-strong contingent sent from Baghdad to help secure Sunday's elections, are likely to occupy outposts throughout Mosul until local police are strong enough to take over, according to Lieutenant Colonel Michael Kurilla of the 1st Battalion, 24th US Infantry Regiment.
"They will bridge the gap until a police force is built up in the city," he said.
The soldiers will also move into a police station turned combat outpost and several posts which had been occupied by US troops since late November, after the local police force unraveled in the face of attacks by insurgents.
Although Iraqi soldiers were taking on more responsibilities after the elections, Kurilla said US forces would still offer back-up.
"We are going to see a much more active Iraqi force, but it is not going to be sink or swim, they will still be assisted by coalition forces," said Kurilla.
02/02/2005 15:24 GMT - AFP