Posted on 03/31/2003 3:04:49 PM PST by knighthawk
TERRIFIED civilians continued to stream out of burning Basra yesterday – risking death from the bullets of evil pro-Saddam fanatics.
War-weary residents, faint with dehydration, faced a grim choice – stay and be forced to fight at gunpoint by Iraqi militia, or try to flee through the crossfire between the beseiged city's defenders and the British soldiers outside.
Several thousand were pinned down in the middle of a shoot-out yesterday – triggered after Iraqi troops fired machine guns and artillery at the fleeing residents.
Amid the fire, desperate mothers clutched screaming babies, young men protected their grandmothers and elderly men looked to the skies yelling, "Allah. God help me."
They huddled together during the shooting then surged towards the British soldiers' checkpoint between bursts of fire. It is estimated 3000 Iraqi fighters remain in the city, including militia which are forcing coalition soldiers into a low-tech war and hand-to-hand combat.
Militia reportedly are cruising around the outskirts in trucks armed with machine guns – then using mobile phones to call in sniper attacks and mortar strikes from a factory north of the bridge.
British commandos control the main bridge the civilians are heading to, near the Euphrates River about 8km from Basra. Civilians are being forced to leave the city in a single line via a coalition checkpoint at which young men are searched to ensure militia are not infiltrating the refugees.
The residents are fleeing the city after more than a week without power, desperate for water and food.
Having complied with British forces earlier and handed over their weapons, civilians complain they have been left defenceless in the city as Iraqi forces run riot, looting from businesses and residents. After several days of bombardment, residents are less happy to see the coalition forces.
Seeing tanks lined up on the outskirts ignites a frustration over why the British soldiers have not yet entered Basra. Until they do, any chance of an "uprising" the coalition has so desperately hoped for wavers. Memories are long and residents still are scared the coalition will not be there to help them.
However yesterday British commandos launched the largest attack on Basra so far. Operation James was an all-out attack on Abu Al Khasib, a suburb in the south-east of Basra believed to be a stronghold of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party loyalists.
More than 600 Royal Marines, including three rifle companies advanced up the Shatt al-Arab river under heavy fire to stop Iraqi troops escaping.
Supported by Challenger II tanks, artillery and attack helicopters, the marines took more than 300 enemy prisoners and destroyed at least 21 tanks, troop carriers and bunkers.
The coalition now believes members of the Republican Guard have been sent to Basra to bolster defences.
In the city's west, British soldiers destroyed a huge stockpile of ammunition found in bunkers, left by fleeing Iraqi fighters.
And yesterday there was more evidence of Saddam's dirty tricks in the conflict.
In Umm Qsar, three young Iraqi men who had fled the conscript army from Basra told coalition troops how they had been trained to ride motorcycles laden with explosives for suicide attacks.
Iraqi prisoners told of how the militia have threatened to cut children's throats to force reluctant fathers back to their posts.
A dying Iraqi solider in an American field hospital told soldiers he was shot in the head for ith enough enthusiasm.
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This doesn't sound right. How could they have handed over weapons to Brits who were still kept outside Basra? If it's true, it's a good example of the old slogan "When guns are outlawed, only the outlaws will have guns".
I took a look at the pravda.com website. Pure trash... it's no wonder Europe looks askance at the US if they buy that kind of carrion for their news source.
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