The Associated Press — Key developments Thursday in the war in Iraq:
- Kurdish forces, accompanied by American troops, seized the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, and there were signs a second northern city, Mosul, might follow. The northern front moved to within 60 miles of Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit.
- The coalition forces' air campaign is shifting to targets mostly in northern Iraq while backing up Army and Marine ground troops in Baghdad and elsewhere.
- A crowd hacked to death two Shiite Muslim clerics -- one a Saddam Hussein loyalist, the other a Saddam opponent returning from exile -- during a meeting in Najaf meant to forge reconciliation at one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines.
- Iraqi fighters inside a mosque opened fire on U.S. Marines who were hunting for regime leaders in Baghdad. Officers said one Marine was killed and 22 were wounded.
- An apparent suicide attacker detonated explosives at a U.S. checkpoint in central Baghdad, wounding four soldiers.
- Thousands of people in Baghdad looted government offices and the police academy, setting fires and making off with furniture, TVs and air conditioners.
- Saddam's fate remained unknown. Hoping to resolve the mystery, U.S. special operations forces examined a site in a Baghdad neighborhood that was bombed Monday based on intelligence that Saddam and at least one of his sons were there.
- Members of the U.N. Security Council said they wanted a political role in Iraq's future and objected to the supporting duties envisioned by the United States and Britain.
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