Clashes between Iraqi, Kurdish troops close to Kirkuk city

Iraqi and Kurdish forces exchanged artillery fire early Monday south of the city of Kirkuk, after central government forces began a "major operation" to take control of a Kurdish military base and oil fields.Shortly before, state television announced that government troops had taken "large areas" of the province from Kurdish peshmerga fighters "without fighting", although military sources on both sides reported exchange of Katyusha rocket fire to the south of the provincial capital.Iraqi Prime M