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Mosul falls to Kurds
E.F.L.Widespread looting has broken out in the main northern Iraqi city of Mosul, after the Iraqi army abandoned the city to US-backed Kurdish fighters. Television pictures showed people picking up banknotes from the street, and beds, furniture and even a roof-top air-conditioning unit being stripped from buildings and carried away. A central market was set on fire and pictures of the ousted Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, were defaced. Kurdish fighters set up roadblocks, while columns of Iraqi soldiers were seen flooding out of the city. The US military says the entire 5th Corps of the Iraqi army has surrendered. US special forces are also said to have entered Mosul. The developments come a day after Kurdish fighters swept in unopposed to the other main city in the area, oil-rich Kirkuk. The BBC's Malcolm Brabant says American control over Kirkuk and Mosul will open up more avenues from which to attack Tikrit, whose people are bound to Saddam Hussein by tribal ties and are expected to put up fierce resistance. He adds that the town can expect continued heavy air attacks for the next four or five days, while American reinforcements make their way to what could be the last battlefield of the war. Kurdish forces in Kirkuk had said they would hand over control to the Americans shortly, following their unexpected advance into the city on Thursday against strong US advice. Washington has moved quickly to reassure Turkey that the Kurds will not be allowed to control Kirkuk and its oil resources, or to declare an independent state in northern Iraq. Ankara is concerned that this could inspire separatist demands among its own sizeable Kurdish minority. On to Tikrit Posted by: Steve 2003-04-11 |
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