- BASRA -- British forces in
the southern Iraqi city of Basra have been under frequent mortar bombardment
in the past three months despite assurances from the Army that the situation
is "quiet".
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- In the latest incident a local businessman was killed
and several other Iraqis seriously injured, including a two-year-old boy,
when at least six mortar bombs were fired at an army base. The attack shortly
before midnight on Sunday was the second on the base in 24 hours.
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- Earlier on Sunday two bombs were aimed at an area occupied
by two Cheshire Regiment companies, slightly injuring an Iraqi civilian
worker. In the past three months the Cheshire Regiment battle group has
suffered 93 separate threats of one form or another, whether rocket, mortar,
rocket-propelled grenade or gunfire.
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- Hussain Abid, 35, whose two-year-old son was seriously
injured in Sunday's attack, called yesterday for the Army to relocate.
The civil servant, whose wife and seven-year-old son were also slightly
hurt when the mortar bomb hit his house, near the British base, said: "I
am angry the British came here, near civilian homes.
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- "They know very well we are being targeted all the
time. I want the government to ask the British to move out of the city.
We are in danger here. We have been hit 10 or 11 times in one month but
this is the first person to die."
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- While senior figuresdescribe the situation in Basra as
"quiet", attacks are still frequent. In the past five days, in
addition to Sunday night's attack, rockets were fired at three military
camps in and around the city and a soldier was slightly injured by a device
that went off under a vehicle.
-
- A combination of luck and vigilance has kept casualties
low. The only British death from enemy action since October was that of
Gordon Gentle, a 19-year-old from the 1st Battalion, Royal Highland Fusiliers
who was killed when a device went off under his vehicle. But many believe
the attacks are becoming more expert and potentially more lethal.
-
- Since the recent transfer of power to the interim Iraqi
government the Army has been trying to reduce its visible presence in Iraq's
second largest city. Unlike the American forces farther north, British
troops still receive a warm welcome from the majority of local people.
Cars toot and drivers wave. Children rush up in the street - apparently
undaunted by the sight of weaponry - to offer goods for sale or to talk.
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- Captain Richard Sernberg, of the Cheshire Regiment, said:
"The situation is very different from the way it was in Northern Ireland
or the Balkans. There is nowhere where we feel direct hostility towards
us. In one of the poorer areas stones get thrown at the vehicles but it
is just kids." More than 8,000 British troops now stationed in Iraq
have worked hard to organise the rebuilding of police and ambulance stations,
raise money for football strips and tournaments or retrain police and national
guard recruits.
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- But, for some locals, the goodwill generated is negated
by the continuing threat from their presence. "If the British Army
wants to help Iraqi civilians they should move far from the city. It is
dangerous for them to be here," Mr Abid said.
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- © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=538485
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