WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: In northern Iraq, the commander of the Kurdish forces says Iraqi troops have now pulled back beyond the Kasar (ph) River. U.S. air strikes routed them from positions in the village of Kazar (ph). CNN's Ben Wedeman reports civilians are looting abandoned Iraqi positions.</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Bombs crash near the Iraqi-controlled town of Kasar (ph) on the road to Mosul. Scene of a battle for a bridge still held by Iraqi troops. Kurdish fighters and a handful of American soldiers watch from a protected position. The Iraqis define their relentless bombardment and maintain their grip on the bridge and respond by lobbing mortar rounds at the Kurds. Just a few hours before this exchange, hundreds of Kurdish troops had walked confidently through territory that had been under Iraqi control for 12 years. They lack heavy weaponry, but American troops, increasingly visible in the north, are calling in punishing air strikes that almost even the odds. And as the Kurds moved ahead, behind them came villagers eager to loot. Scavenging through Iraqi positions, they take away whatever they can carry and then some. Kurdish soldiers order this man to unload his motorcycle. In the end, they relented. Their desire to impose order overcome by his determination to drive away with the
Iraqi Civilians Looting Abandoned Iraqi Positions