"It seems like Kirkuk has fallen," said correspondent Dumeeth Luthra, though the BBC added on its teletext service that US military spokesmen could not confirm the report.

Earlier Thursday, a senior Kurdish commander told AFP that Kurdish forces pushing towards Kirkuk had seized the towns of Makhmur and Altun Kubri, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) northeast of Kirkuk.

A Sky News television correspondent, reporting live from northern Iraq, said Kurdish forces had entered Kirkuk from the south and west.

Kirkuk and the other main northern city of Mosul have been controlled by forces loyal to President Saddam Hussein, whose whereabout remain unknown after downtown Baghdad fell Wednesday to US marines.

Both cities were the main objectives of a joint thrust by US special forces and Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq that was part of the US-led invasion of Iraq that began March 20.

SPACE.WIRE