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Soldiers in Iraq, Showing The A Team still live on! British Army - Basra click to view

Unidentified gunmen stormed a primary school building and killed its principal as he handed out certificates to its pupils. The incident happened in the district of Zubair, north of Basra. Zubair is a mixed town where Sunnis make up a slight majority but Shiite militias have the upper hand in Basra and wield tremendous power in the region. British forces, who are technically in charge of security in Basra, have failed to chip away at the militias’ influence. And apparently the new government of Nouri al-Maliki, which declared a state of emergency in the city, is too week or reluctant...

LONDON, June 25 (KUNA) -- British Soldiers serving in Iraq have been warned of the danger of insurgents using sophisticated electronic equipment to intercept their mobile phone calls and obtain the numbers of their wives and family at home in the UK, it was reported Sunday. The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) confirmed that there was concern over reports of a number of nuisance calls'' to servicemen's families. But it played down suggestions that the calls had included death threats. The Sunday Telegraph newspaper quoted a document sent to soldiers of the Territorial Army's (TA) London Regiment, which has soldiers...

British forces in Iraq say they have seized a large cache of weapons and bomb-making equipment in Basra. Troops from the Queen's Royal Hussars believe they found enough material to make dozens of explosives. One device was disguised as roadside debris. This month two UK soldiers died after a similar device went off and a patrol narrowly missed being hit on Sunday. The find comes as President Jalal Talabani calls on Iraq's new government to improve security in Basra.

In a recent intelligence report, Western analysts suggested that while international attention is focused on Iranian nuclear ambitions, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is covertly destablising southern Iraq. If so, the primary objective is to undermine British control in Basra. Western intelligence agencies have long claimed that the IRGC is providing support for the al-Mahdi Army headed by militant cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Tehran is also actively aiding the Badr Corps of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. These are the principal militias of the Shia communities in the south of the country and are now among...

Rome,10 May (AKI) - The soldiers of the multinational force operating in southern Iraq will be at increased risk of terrorist attack in the near future, a source in one of the armed militias in Basra has told Adnkronos International (AKI). The source, who requested anonymity, said "the attacks against the coalition forces in southern Iraq will see a significant increase". Regarding the nature of these attacks, the source said: "They will probably involve suicide bombers, explosive devices and the launch of Hawn missiles." Regarding the downing of a British helicopter in Basra two days ago, the militia member told...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A British military helicopter crashed in Basra on Saturday, and Iraqis hurled stones at British troops and set fire to at least one armored vehicle that rushed to the scene. Clashes broke out between British troops and Shiite militias, police and witnesses said. Police Capt. Mushtaq Khazim said the helicopter was apparently shot down in a residential district the city. He said the four-member crew was killed, but British officials would say only that there were "casualties." British forces backed by armored vehicles rushed to the area but were met by a hail of stones from the...

BASRA, April 4 (KUNA) -- Unknown gunmen on Tuesday fired missiles at a British forces headquarters in Basra, southern Iraq, announced Basra Police Command sources on Tuesday. A Basra police spokesperson said the gunmen fired three Katyusha missiles on a hotel used as headquarters by the British forces in central Basra. In another incident, a British military patrol was attacked by unknown gunmen armed with rocket-propelled grenades and machineguns north of Basra city, said a spokesperson for the British forces. The source said that the two sides exchanged fire, but did not touch on any losses on both sides. Meanwhile,...

ANTI-WAR activists yesterday demonstrated outside the BBC headquarters in Scotland to protest at alleged "pro-government bias" in the corporation's reporting of the Iraq conflict. About 20 Stop the War Coalition protesters stood outside the offices in Glasgow to highlight what they said was a failure to cover a national demonstration last month. The BBC has denied ignoring the demonstration in London. In a letter to the BBC director general, Mark Thompson, the group complained of "systematic hostility" to the anti-war movement.

British forces in Missan province have returned again breaking into resident's houses, and arrested 10 citizens at their breaking the district of 15 Shabban in the center of the province, while the common Iraqi security forces have arrested 49 terrorists in different districts of the state & killed 8 during their breaking terrorists dens founding various kinds of weapons & supplies.A witnessed said that the British forces used TNT in pulling out the doors & windows and there were 300 solders carried the process supported by 50 tanks & military vehicles while helicopters protected the force.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- At least 18 coalition soldiers have been killed in southeastern Iraq in the last two months, most by a deadly new kind of roadside bomb believed to be sourced from Iran, a top British general said Friday. A year ago there were far more attacks on coalition forces but the casualties were low. That trend has been reversed, said Maj. Gen. Jim Dutton, who spoke with Pentagon reporters from his headquarters in Basra. "Even at its worst, this is a relatively stable area in comparison to other parts of the country. We're concerned, as are...

Local security forces are reported to have taken unspecified measures to check Iranian influence in southern Iraq, particularly in Basra. Basra, Iraq’s second largest city is said to be almost under the total hegemony of unruly militias financed, armed and commanded by Iranian intelligence agents. Security and provincial officers, refusing to be named, told Azzaman that they have uncovered “conclusive evidence” pointing to Iran’s interference in the city’s domestic affairs. “We have at our disposal evidence and documents which confirm compliance by Iranian intelligence organs in the series of violent acts taking place in Basra,” one provincial official said. Iraqi...

A TEAM of military specialists has been dispatched to Iraq to compile a comprehensive dossier of evidence that "Iranian elements" have been arming insurgents engaged in a brutal struggle with British forces around Basra. The Foreign Office last night confirmed that experts were engaged in an intensive operation to back up growing concerns that Iran is "interfering" to deadly effect in efforts to pacify Iraq and restore democracy to the war-torn country. The insistence that Britain is determined to prove Iran is providing sophisticated equipment to perpetrators of attacks that have claimed the lives of at least eight British soldiers...

Basra, Iraq - The most powerful and feared institution here in southern Iraq's largest city is a shadowy force of 200 to 300 police officers known collectively as the Jameat, who dominate the local police and who are said to murder and torture at will. They answer to the leaders of Basra's sectarian militias. The militia infiltration in Basra's police force and government goes far beyond the Jameat. But it may be the most ominous example of the degree to which militias dominate Basra. The extent of Jameat's power became clear in September when British troops in armored vehicles tried...

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - British troops seized 12 men, including members of the Iraqi police, during overnight raids in Basra on suspicion of involvement in deadly attacks on foreign troops, the military said on Friday. Some of the detainees are also linked to militia groups, a British commander in the area said. Sources in rebel Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's office in the southern Iraqi city said those detained were mostly Sadr supporters. "In the past two months, eight multi-national force soldiers and six coalition members have been killed by terrorists in Basra province," Brigadier John Lorimer said in a statement....

THE violence that erupted on the streets of Basra yesterday was the result of a simmering struggle between British forces and the increasingly powerful Shia Muslim militias active in southern Iraq. Attention has been focused on the Sunni Muslim insurgency against US-led forces further north, yet the British have been facing a sharp rise in attacks from an increasingly sophisticated and deadly foe. There are strong suspicions that the bloodshed is being orchestrated with weapons and encouragement from Iran. The clashes and the arrest of two undercover soldiers was almost certainly triggered by the arrest at the weekend of Sheikh...

LONDON, JUNE 19 (KUNA) -- British Royal Air Force warplanes have been called into action in Iraq alongside American forces fighting close to the Syrian border, the BBC reported Sunday. The British GR4 Tornadoes were supporting a US operation against insurgents, the American military said. They used laser-guided bombs and missiles to support an attack on a building in Karabila, the BBC said. Around 1,000 US troops are targeting insurgent hide-outs in the offensive, known as Operation "Spear". The operation has seen heavy fighting in Karabila and other areas around the city of Qaim, in north-western Iraq's Anbar province, correspondents...

LONDON - British troops on Sunday arrested a group of Iraqi insurgents suspected of carrying out separate roadside bombings that killed two British soldiers, the Ministry of Defense said. Troops from the military's Staffordshire regiment made the arrests during dawn raids in Al Marjarr Al Kabira, in southern Iraq, a Ministry of Defense spokesman said. The spokesman said "less than five suspects" were detained by troops, who also recovered 130 detonators and other bomb-making equipment. "Those targeted were suspected of being involved in recent attacks that claimed the lives of two U.K. soldiers, Guardsman Wakefield and Lance Cpl. Brackenbury, in...

BAGHDAD, May 21 (KUNA) -- The British military base in the southern province of Mesan came under a rocket attack on Saturday, eyewitnesses said. The attack is the first in four months in Mesan. After the attack, British troops stormed a company affiliated with the Iraqi Ministry of Trade, claiming the rockets were launched from its compound. A number of guards were arrested, said the eyewitnesses.

Feb 25, 11:23 AM ESTQueen Gives Awards to U.K. Iraq Veterans By SUE LEEMANAssociated Press WriterLONDON (AP) -- A 19-year-old soldier who rescued a colleague from U.S. "friendly fire" in Iraq received the George Cross on Wednesday, the youngest person honored with Britain's second-highest award for gallantry."I'm overwhelmed. I don't know what was more nerve-racking, receiving this medal or when we were under fire," Trooper Christopher Finney said after receiving his award from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.Finney had been a member of British army's Blues and Royals regiment for less than a year when he rescued a...