WASHINGTON, Oct 21: The army is shipping a task force of 20 AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships from Europe to Kuwait in the latest move of a low key US military buildup in the Gulf, a US defence official said Monday.

The movement, which began last week, includes about 450 US troops with the 11th Aviation Regiment based in Illesheim, Germany as well as half a dozen UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, the official said.

The gunships were last deployed for combat in the 1999 NATO air war in Kosovo, but sat out the conflict in neighbouring Albania because of Washington’s reluctance to risk casualties.

In the 1991 Gulf War, they were used to knock out Iraqi early warning radars at the start of the air campaign.—AFP