British: Iraqis Fire on Basra Civilians
NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press
CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar - Iraqi paramilitary forces in Basra fired mortars and machine guns Friday on a "couple of thousand" Iraqi civilians trying to leave the besieged city, British military officials said.
Members of Britain's 7th Armored Brigade were trying to neutralize the fire, evacuate the civilians and treat the wounded, said Lt. Col. Ronnie McCourt, a spokesman for British forces in the Gulf.
A senior British defense official said there had been reports in recent days of significant numbers of Iraqi civilians coming out of Basra on a daily basis to get food aid from points outside the city and then returning.
The official, who asked not to be identified further, said that scenario appeared to be the case again Friday, but that Iraqi paramilitary forces opened fire on them to block them from getting out.
"Our interpretation of this is here perhaps are the first pieces of evidence of Iraqi people trying to break free from the Baath party regime and the militia," Col. Chris Vernon, a spokesman in southern Iraq for British forces, told Sky News Television. "And clearly the militia don't want that. They want to keep their population in there, and they fired on them to force them back in."
McCourt said a "couple of thousand" Iraqi civilians had tried to break out of the city in the north and west, but came under fire from Iraqi paramilitary forces inside.
"We are trying to save the people, return fire and rescue civilians," he said.
He said forces of the 1st Black Watch battalion in Warrior armored fighting vehicles were trying to wedge themselves between the militia fire and the civilian targets.
British forces have ringed the southern city - Iraq's second largest with a population of 1.3 million - in hopes of eliminating units still loyal to Saddam Hussein and opening the way for badly needed humanitarian aid.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if aid doesn't reach the city soon.
On at least three separate occasions, British units and coalition aircraft have fired on enemy Iraqi tanks and other armored vehicles that have streamed out of the city.
On Thursday, at least 14 T-55 tanks heading south out of Basra toward the al-Faw peninsula were destroyed by coalition airpower and groundfire, British officials said.
The British say they are coming to the defense of Shiite Muslims who they say rose up in the streets against Saddam Hussein's Sunni Muslim regime on Tuesday.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has promised backing for the insurgents.
Coalition forces have made no secret of their hopes to spur such uprisings in the strategic southern city. Iraq has denied there was an uprising.
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