The missile, which landed half a kilometer (a quarter of a mile) from the small village of Buyukmurdes in the province of Sanliurfa on Friday, was the third US cruise missile to have crashed in the region in less than a week.

Angry Buyukmurdes residents broke the windows of the four vehicles carrying the experts and chanted anti-war slogans before Turkish paramilitary gendarmerie troops stepped in to move them away, the agency said.

The experts were then able to begin their investigation on the missile which landed in a grain field in four pieces.

Turkey has opened its airspace to US warplanes to launch bombing raids in Iraq.

WAR.WIRE