A US military helicopter crashed west of Baghdad today, killing one soldier, and gunmen shot dead a Kurd as ethnic tension gripped the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

A FIRST contingent of US special forces made its way into the centre of the main northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Friday and was greeted with sniper fire, an AFP correspondent reported.

Residents burned buildings and plundered banks, grabbing wads of money, as Iraq’s third city descended into anarchy today after US and Kurdish forces swept into Mosul and Saddam Hussein’s troops fled.