Tactical withdrawal by Iraqi troops

ABBAS ALI was jubilant when the northern Iraq frontlines moved.

He quickly got his tractor and rumbled to abandoned Iraqi army positions around Kirkuk, hoping to get some loot that could help him rebuild his house in the oil-rich city that he was forced to leave 10 years ago.

But what he found left him sensing that it may take quite a while before he and his fellow Kurds can advance any further, even though one of the north's most prized cities is now within sight. "They took everything. They didn't leave very much behind," said the 50-year-old, as he and is cousins picked through a network of hill-top bunkers and bases around this abandoned garrison town.