20 Rockets Slam Brits At Basra Airport
Baghdad - Violence returned Thursday to the southern city of Basra, where militants pummeled Britain’s airport base with 20 rockets and British gunners answered with volleys of artillery.
The Basra battle also exposed potential security gaps around Iraq’s second-largest city less than two months after a scaled-down British force handed over control to Iraqi police and military. Rival Shiite factions are locked in fierce struggles for dominance in Basra and the rest of the oil-rich south.
Three British soldiers were reported wounded.
Casualty figures were uncertain in Basra, where militants launched a 45-minute barrage at dawn with 20 Katyusha rockets hitting Britain’s base at the airport. The unguided Katyusha, which can be fired from mobile launchers, is a common part of militant arsenals in Iraq and used elsewhere by militias, including Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The British military said it responded with six high-explosive artillery shells—killing at least one person and wounding five.
An Iraqi military intelligence officer at the British base said about 10 Iraqi civilians were either killed or wounded, although he could not provide a breakdown. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
“We regret all deaths and injuries in Basra, from whatever cause,” said Capt. Finn Aldrich, a British military spokesman in Basra.
“The only people that are suffering because of these attacks are the people of Iraq. These attacks are delaying the development of Basra and the prosperity of the people of Basra. Without security and stability, there will be limited foreign investment—investment that will speed up the development of Basra,” the spokesman said.
Although Iraqi forces have command of security in Basra, about 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, Britain currently maintains about 4,500 troops at the airport outside the city and can provide assistance if called. British forces have come under sporadic attacks at the base, but the numbers have fallen dramatically since the hand-over Dec. 16.
The number of British troops could be further cut to 2,000 by spring. In the months soon after Saddam Hussein was toppled, there were about 40,000 British troops in Iraq.
U.S. forces, meanwhile, have expanded offensives in central and northern Iraq, seeking to build on gains against al-Qaida in Iraq in the past year. But the latest campaigns also have driven up the military’s death toll after months of decline.
(AP)
3 Brits wounded, one insurgent killed, 20 rockets wasted. Ha fuckin ha losers.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:08 pmThey fired 60 rockets, lord knows where the other 40 went
January 31st, 2008 at 7:04 pm