|
Iraqi troops try to crush Basra uprising
25/03/2003 20:37 - (SA)
London - Iraqi forces in Basra were Tuesday firing mortars on fellow Iraqis who were rebelling against them in the strategic town and British forces were firing artillery on these mortar positions, the Sky News TV channel said in a report from the region monitored in London.
"It appears that the people of Basra have basically had enough of the Saddam regime," the reporter said.
He said British military intelligence had reported that "Iraqi forces are firing mortar rounds on protestors who are actually rebelling against the ruling Baath party."
He said British forces were "firing heavy artillery on the locations of those mortars. Specific radar equipment can tell (the British forces) actually where those mortars are being fired."
There were also British air strikes, Sky News correspondents said.
A correspondent said it was apparently "a popular uprising against the Baath party of Saddam Hussein," something British and US commanders have been hoping for.
The correspondent said British forces were holding off on entering Basra since they would not be able to distinguish between rebels and Saddam faithfuls.
He said the British would wait until morning when the riots had quieted down and then might enter the city.
Earlier on Tuesday, spokesperson for coalition forces in the Gulf said their troops faced the prospect of street fighting in Basra after meeting fierce resistance on the outskirts.
Relief agencies meanwhile warned of a humanitarian crisis in the metropolis.
Military planners had expected little resistance in the city, pinning their hopes on the Shi'ite Muslim majority who have long been repressed by President Saddam Hussein's mainly Sunni regime.
The British army is reported to have three brigades to the south and west of Basra, where an estimated 1 000 so-called Iraqi "irregulars" were resisting the coalition advance.
- AFX
|
News
