Iraqis 'firing on their own'

Iraqis 'firing on their own'

By Nick Parker
With the British Army Field HQ in Iraq

Families have fled Basra

Iraqi troops blasted women and children with mortars and machine guns on Thursday as they tried to flee the war-torn city of Basra.

More than 2,000 civilians - including babes in arms - were crossing a bridge on foot when their column was attacked from the side of the road.

At least one young woman was seriously wounded and others collapsed in agony, clutching bullet and shrapnel injuries.

Warrior fighting vehicle crews of Britain's Black Watch Regiment saw the outrage and fired on the Iraqi positions in a bid to halt the attacks.

They raked concealed enemy positions with 7.62 calibre machine gun fire, sending them scurrying for cover.

Civilians caught in the ambush ran in terror back into the southern city - where shortages of water, food and power are nearing crisis point.

A senior military source at the British Army Field HQ said yesterday: "This is yet another example of pro-Saddam Hussein forces attempting to control the population.

"It's not clear whether the 2,000 people running south were refugees or simply out looking for water to take back to their families.

"But the Iraqis showed them no mercy and targeted them anyway.

"We realise the urgency of the situation for civilians trapped in Basra and are doing all we can to dominate the area and free them from the grip of the paramilitaries.

"But it will be a difficult and dangerous task."

Small groups

It was unclear last night whether any civilians suffered life- threatening injuries in the assault - or whether Iraqis were killed by the British counter-strike.

British troops fired at Iraqi militia

Captain Robert Sandford, with the 7th Armoured Brigade, said: "It would seem there are several small groups of Iraqi militia using mortar plates on the back of small, mobile vehicles.

"They landed around eight or nine mortars near the civilians."

British forces were unable to return fire immediately as it was hard to spot the mortar gang - believed to be operating from the back of a four-wheel-drive pick-up.

Tank commanders called in military field ambulance crews to evacuate the wounded but the mercy crews were initially beaten back by continuing fighting.

A steady flow of families was attempting to break out of Basra - now flanked on three sides by the tanks, troops and artillery of Britain's 7th Armoured Brigade.

But around 2,000 Iraqi regular troops backed by plain-clothed guerrillas and fanatical Fedayeen suicide squads want to use locals as human shields.

Pro-Saddam thugs still in control of the city are Sunni Muslims and care nothing for the lives Basra's predominantly Shi'ite Muslim people.

The Iraqi army's feared 51st Division - which brutally crushed a Shi'ite rebellion after the last Gulf War - has placed tanks, artillery and snipers among civilians.

Vital supplies

Soldiers loyal to Saddam's Ba'ath Party have been infuriated by civilians who have fled the city to get food and water for their families from Allied sources.

British Army Field HQ spokesman Colonel Chris Vernon said on Thursday: "These appear to be the first signs of the people of Basra attempting to break free of Ba'ath Party militia to get aid.

"The militia clearly don't want that because they need to keep the population in Basra to make it more difficult for us to attack."

Black Watch troops were last night attempting to shore up an armoured wedge between Iraqi killers and innocents attempting to escape.

The British cargo ship Sir Galahad was docking at the southern port of Umm Qasr last night, ferrying in the first large-scale supplies of food and bottled water.

But the vital aid will not be able to reach desperate families until Basra falls.

Water supplies have still not been restored to more than half the city since Allied bombs blasted pumping station power supplies at the start of the war.