Oil prices today soared more than two per cent following news that the US had killed a top Iranian General, fanning fresh fears of a conflict in the crude-rich region.



The head of Iran's Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, was hit in an attack on Baghdad's international airport early today, according to Hased, a powerful Iraqi paramilitary force linked to Tehran.



Later, Donald Trump tweeted a picture of the American flag, and the Pentagon said he had ordered Soleimani's killing.



Brent surged around 2.2 per cent, in intra-day trade, to 68 US dollars and 40 cents as investors grow increasingly worried about the effects of a possible flare-up in tensions in West Asia on supplies of the commodity.