Mil News British Troops Kill 28

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At least 28 Iraqis have died in fighting between British troops and gunmen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, hospital officials have said.

On Friday, British troops killed up to 16 insurgents after a patrol was ambushed between the southern cities of Amarah and Basra. Two soldiers were wounded, the Ministry of Defence said.

Ambulance driver Mohammed Rahim said British authorities contacted Amarah General Hospital on Saturday night and asked officials to send ambulances to their base near Amarah to receive bodies of those Iraqis killed in the clashes.

Ambulances took away 21 bodies and British troops told hospital officials they would later hand over another seven bodies, Rahim said. Most of the victims were believed to be fighters.

Witnesses said the bodies of some of those killed in the fighting were also taken to al-Majar al-Kabir hospital, 25 miles south of Amarah.

Forces have battled al-Sadr fighters in several cities this week. The coalition is trying to disband the cleric's army and sideline its radical leadership before handing power to a new Iraqi government June 30.

Al-Sadr is a fierce opponent of the US-led occupation who launched an uprising last month and faces an arrest warrant in the death of a rival moderate cleric last year.

Source: Modoracle

 

[serurier]

28 Iraqis Killed in Recent Clashes

28 Iraqis Killed in Recent Clashes

2 minutes ago


AMARAH, Iraq - At least 28 Iraqis died in recent fighting between British troops and gunmen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, hospital officials said Sunday.


British troops killed as many as 16 Iraqi insurgents Friday after a patrol was ambushed between the southern cities of Amarah and Basra, and two British soldiers were wounded, the Ministry of Defense said in London.


Mohammed Rahim, an ambulance driver, said British authorities contacted Amarah General Hospital on Saturday night and asked officials there to send ambulances to the British base near Amarah to receive Iraqi casualties.


Ambulances took 21 bodies to the hospital, and the British troops told hospital officials that they would later hand over another seven bodies, Rahim said. Most of the slain men were believed to be fighters.


Witnesses said the bodies of some people killed in the fighting were also taken to al-Majar al-Kabir hospital, 25 miles south of Amarah.


U.S. forces have battled al-Sadr fighters in several cities this week. The U.S.-led coalition is trying to disband the cleric's army and sideline its radical leadership before handing power to a new Iraqi government June 30.


Al-Sadr is a fierce opponent of the U.S.-led occupation who launched an uprising last month and faces an arrest warrant in the death of a rival moderate cleric last year.


Britain, which played the biggest role in the Iraq (news - web sites) war after the United States, still has some 8,000 troops in the country.
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[serurier]

Backlash fear after British kill 28 fighters

BRITISH forces are braced for retaliation by Shia militiamen in southern Iraq after weekend fighting left twenty-eight Iraqis dead and two British soldiers injured. It was their bloodiest engagement since the end of the war. Followers of Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shia leader, accused the British yesterday of “mutilating” the bodies of their fighters who were killed in fierce clashes after launching a series of ambushes against British patrols. The ambush backfired badly on the assailants, who were cut down by British infantry in close-quarters combat.

Twenty-two of the Iraqi dead, members of al-Mahdi Army, were buried in the holy city of Najaf yesterday. Hospitals in al-Amarah said that they expected more bodies to be handed over by British forces. Thirteen insurgents were captured and nine wounded.

Al-Sadr followers exploited the allegations of mutilation, which were aired on al-Arabiya television. A relative of one of the dead claimed the fighter’s body was missing his arms and head. Another was alleged to have had his genitals cut. Akram al-Kabi, a member of Sadr’s group, told al-Jazeera television that among the dead were peaceful demonstrators. He said that bodies recovered had limbs missing and eyes gouged out.

British officials dismissed the allegations. A delegation of senior British officers travelled to the area at the weekend to explain to local leaders that the British troops were acting in self-defence and that the violence was provoked by a small minority.

The scale of the losses and the allegations of atrocities caused concern among the British military that the incident could be used by al-Sadr supporters to incite more violence. Over the weekend US troops battled al-Sadr militiamen in the slums of Baghdad and the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, while Italian troops fought more insurgents in the southern city of al-Nasiriyah, where the civilian headquarters had to be evacuated after coming under mortar fire. Scores of Shia fighters were killed.

“We can’t understand the logic of provoking an attack that ends in a 28-0 defeat,” one British official said, “unless al-Sadr’s men deliberately wanted to provoke the coalition and win sympathy from the locals.”

The battle involving the British forces began on Friday when two unarmoured Land Rovers belonging to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders drove into a hail of machinegun and rocket-propelled grenade fire on the main Route 6 highway that leads north from Basra to al-Amarah.

Just north of Majar Kabir the patrol successfully ran through at least one ambush before encountering a much larger force of at least 100 fighters, military sources said. The patrol radioed for reinforcements from the main British base at al-Amarah, Camp Abu Naji, which is the headquarters of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (PWRR), who are responsible for securing the area. The PWRR responded by sending a force of soldiers in 37-tonne Warrior armoured vehicles. The soldiers engaged al-Mahdi fighters for at least four hours, using fixed bayonets and engaging in hand-to-hand fighting.

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