Kurdish Troops Enter Oil City of Kirkuk

LA Times -- One day after Baghdad fell largely to U.S. control, four Marines were injured in a suicide bomb attack today, one was killed in an exchange of fire with Iraqi fighters near a mosque, and rampant looting persisted in the Iraqi capital.

In northern Iraq, U.S. forces continued to extend their reach, claiming control of Kirkuk, a center of oil industry activity and close to the lines that demarked Kurdish control over the past decade. Kurds quickly proclaimed the disappearance of Iraqi troops from Kirkuk a victory for their minority tribes.

U.S. troops also turned toward Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, sending a column of M1A1 tanks in its direction, Reuters news agency reported.