"A group of 60 soldiers, including 11 women, crossed the borders from Kuwait into Iraq this morning," Lieutenant Colonel Shigeru Yamasaki, head of the Task Planning and Liaison Unit, told AFP.

They were transported by 20 military vehicles and accompanied by 50 trucks, driven by civilians and carrying supplies for the Japanese troops, he said.

The group was among 190 Japanese Self Defense Ground Forces troops who arrived in Kuwait on March 14 and had been undergoing training at a camp in preparation for their mission in Iraq, Yamasaki said.

They will join between 350 and 370 Japanese ground troops already based in Samawa, a Shiite Muslim city 270 kilometers (170 miles) south of Baghdad.

Yamasaki said the troops will be based in the Japanese military camp in the city that is still under-construction.

The mission to Iraq is the first by Japanese troops to a combat zone since World War II, and has caused controversy because of Japan's pacifist constitution.

The troops, armed with assault rifles, machine-guns and anti-tank missiles, will be allowed to use their weapons if attacked.

The final contingent of 120 ground troops is due in Kuwait on Monday morning to complete Japan's some 550-strong humanitarian mission.

The troops will receive logistical support from around 400 air force and naval personnel in the region.

Two hundred Japanese air force personnel stationed at Kuwait's Ali Al-Salem Air Base are soon due to start flying aid and equipment into Iraq.

The amphibious ship Oosumi offloaded military equipment at the emirate's southern Shuaiba port last Monday. The destroyer Murasame is also heading for Kuwait.

Japan has pledged five billion dollars between 2004 and 2007 to help rebuild war-torn Iraq.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pledged last week to keep Japanese troops in Iraq regardless of Spain's move to withdraw its soldiers from the country at the end of June.

WAR.WIRE