Kurds seize major oil city

Kurdish fighters entered the strategic oil-rich city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq today where residents toppled statues of Saddam Hussein and looted government offices.

More than 100 vehicles, from pick-up trucks to a rubbish truck, laden with Kurdish peshmerga fighters drove through Kirkuk’s streets, flying the flags of the two major Kurdish factions who rule the autonomous region: yellow for Kurdistan Democratic Party and green for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.