KIRKUK, Iraq, April 10 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - U.S. and Kurdish forces took control Thursday, April 10, of the northern Iraqi oil-rich city of Kirkuk without a fight following a reported popular uprising.

U.S. and Kurdish troops also control the vital oilfields of the northern city, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

In a bid to alleviate Turkey's fears, the White House said the U.S. forces "will be in control of Kirkuk."

"American forces will be in control of Kirkuk," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters.

Residents of Kirkuk -- one of two strategic oil cities in northern Iraq -- pulled down a large statue of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in the central square and burned a giant portrait of Saddam.

"The Iraqis withdrew this morning, the population rose up, then the Kurdish fighters arrived," resident Bavi Yassin told an AFP ground correspondent.

Saman Makhmud Abdullah added: "the Iraqis left this morning. A few peshmerga (Kurdish fighters) arrived, then the population rose up…The pershmerga entered in numbers about an hour ago, they are now in the centre of the city."

On the edge of Kirkuk no signs of fighting were in evidence, but some looting had begun at administrative buildings.

Thousands of Kurdish exiles were also rushing back to their motherland while hundreds of vehicles filled the roads leading to the key oil center, which the Kurds want to govern despite strong warnings from Turkey.

Many of the returnees said they hoped to recover their homes and property confiscated by Saddam Hussein's regime under a policy of "Urbanization" which saw many Kurds thrown out of the city.

Many hoped their homes had been deserted by their Arab occupants, but some said they were prepared to recover them by force.

In a bid to alleviate Turkey's fears, the White House said Thursday that the U.S. forces "will be in control of Kirkuk."