TEHRAN -- The United States is building a secret military airport in northern Iraq and will make it operational next month, the Central News Bureau quoted an informed local source in Iraqi Kurdistan as saying on Sunday.

The source said that the airport is located in a remote area in the Ben Harir heights in Arbil Province of Iraq, adding that it would have the capacity to accommodate up to 250 fighter jets once completed.

Furthermore, military experts of the region believe that the Ben Harir base, with its unique geographical features, is meant to be a staging area for special operations, particularly considering the proximity of Turkey's Incirlik airbase to northern Iraq, where U.S. troops have already been deployed.

In another development, it has been reported that a group of U.S. and Turkish troops entered northern Iraq on Sunday. The group consists of 37 U.S. officers and military experts and 67 Turkish troops, according to the report.

In a related story, the Turkish daily ****Milliyet**** reported on Sunday that several U.S. warships had docked in ports in southern Turkey. The ****Milliyet**** report said that ships transporting military equipment had been dispatched to the region three weeks ago and are waiting for Ankara's authorization to off-load their cargo.