- The true scale of British casualties in Iraq is revealed
today after the Ministry of Defense confirmed that more than 2,200 injured
British military personnel have been flown home from the Gulf since the
start of the campaign.
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- With the security situation in Iraq deteriorating, The
Scotsman has learned that British forces are suffering about 50 combat
injuries every month, and attacks on troops are taking place daily. Soldiers
serving in Iraq say they have been told they cannot all expect to return
home alive.
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- And the extent to which Britain is now prepared to accept
casualties is revealed by a secret plan which was drawn up by British commanders
two weeks ago for a major offensive against the town of Nasiriyah amid
fears that Italian and South Korean forces were losing control to supporters
of the rebel cleric Muqtada al Sadr.
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- One estimate from military sources in Iraq suggested
that the attack, which would have involved house-to-house fighting by light
infantry troops without the support of armoured units or artillery, could
have cost the lives of as many as 100 British soldiers and have left another
200 wounded.
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- The intended force included units drawn from the Royal
Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers and the Royal Regiment of Wales. An
additional field surgery team was flown into Iraq to deal with the expected
casualties.
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- The operation was eventually called off after the Italian
president, Silvio Berlusconi, intervened to order the Italian commander
to commit his forces to restore order in the town.
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- The revelations came as the government said it was considering
sending more troops to Iraq to replace Spanish forces, which are being
withdrawn from around the city of Najaf by their government.
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- In a further reflection of the worsening security situation,
the BBC confirmed that it had withdrawn all but two of its staff from Iraq
and banned any more trips to the country until further notice.
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- This week 74 people, including 16 children, died in suicide
bombings in Basra. Last night, five Iraqis believed linked to al-Qaeda
were arrested for the attacks.
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- The men led police to a stash of 20 tons of explosives,
an Iraqi police intelligence chief said.
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- The existence of the Nasiriyah plan was confirmed yesterday
by Major Gene Maxwell of the Royal Scots. He said: "There were contingency
plans put in place for this. One contingency plan was to go up to support
the Italians. But in the end they coped and didnít need our help."
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- Since February last year a total of 2,228 injured British
personnel have been flown home for treatment, a figure equivalent to three
battalions. To put the figure in context, the entire Black Watch battle
group in Iraq during the war amounted to 1,100 soldiers. About 60,000 British
military personnel have served in Iraq during Operation Telic, with the
death toll currently standing at 59.
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- But despite the mounting casualties, British forces are
under pressure from US commanders to take on tough new roles.
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- Yesterday, the MoD said Britain was talking to other
coalition partners about what to do in Najaf. "Najaf has been kept
under review in light of recent events but no decisions have been taken
on that," a spokesman said.
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- Concerns about Nasiriyah began to mount after the arrest
of one of Sadrís key aides and the closure of his newspaper sparked
violent protests across Iraq.
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- Coalition commanders decided that British troops may
have to be used to restore order in Nasiriyah after it became clear that
the Italian and South Korean forces were losing control. In one incident,
about 80 militia armed with a small tank succeeded in hijacking a train.
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- Coalition commanders feared that if Sadrís militia
were allowed to take full control of the town, it would require a full
assault on the scale of the US operation against Fallujah. British commanders
were told to put together an ad hoc force of about 1,000 men.
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- One officer estimated that the losses in such an operation
would be expected to run at about 30 per cent, with fatalities expected
to account for one in three of those casualties.
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- But the operation was called off after Mr Berlusconi
flew to Nasiriyah on a surprise visit on 10 April.
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- ©2004 Scotsman.com http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=461122004
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