title: Iraqi forces remove Kurdish flag from Kirkuk governorate building: residents
text: BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi forces removed on Monday the Kurdish flag that was hoisted on the governorate building in April next to an Iraqi flag, said residents, adding that only the Iraqi flag was flying. A U.S.-trained Iraqi elite unit took control of the governorate building earlier in the day, meeting no opposition from Kurdish forces deployed in the city. They were welcomed by cheering crowds of Turkmen residents of the city who drove around in convoy firing, sometimes burst of gunfire into the air to celebrate the Iraqi military operation launched in the early hours of Monday to take control of Kurdish-held positions in the oil-rich region. 