War planes pound targets outside Kirkuk

WAR planes pounded targets just outside the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk yesterday in the heaviest attack on the strategic oil hub since the start of the war.

As the US military intensified its efforts to open up a northern front against Saddam Hussein’s army, huge plumes of black smoke rose from targets just north of Kirkuk.

Fighter jets circled in the sky above before dropping bombs on or close to Buyuk Hisar, a military stronghold just north of Kirkuk.