1.   An inky black smoke from fires at the Lenin oil refinery and elsewhere had turned the ravaged city as black as night.

2.   An inky black smoke from fires at the Lenin oil refinery and elsewhere turned the ravaged city as black as night.

3.   An inky smoke from fires at the Lenin oil refinery and elsewhere had turned the ravaged capital black as night.

4.   On Wednesday, U.S. pilots struck a fuel depot near the airport, sending inky black smoke billowing over Kabul.