Kurdish security forces took over two major oil fields outside the disputed northern city of Kirkuk before dawn yesterday and said they would use some of the production for domestic purposes.

Four suicide bombers struck communities of a small Kurdish sect in north-western Iraq, killing at least 200 people and wounding 300 more, Iraqi military and local officials said.

More than 50 gunmen dressed in Iraqi security forces uniforms broke into an oil ministry compound in Baghdad today and abducted a senior deputy of the oil minister and four other officials, a ministry spokesman and police said.

Iraqi security forces launched a high-profile crackdown targeting terrorists in Baghdad today as insurgents hit back with suicide bombings and ambushes that killed at least 17 people.