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.

TWO people were killed yesterday after gunfire erupted as hundreds of Arab and Turkmens marched in protest over fears of Kurdish domination in the oil-rich northern Iraq city of Kirkuk.

Gunfire erupted as hundreds of protesters marched in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk today and at least two people were reported killed in the oil-rich metropolis.