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April 7, 2003, The Independent THE IRAQ CONFLICT: IRAQ'S CITIES BESEIGED: BASRA ON THE EDGE AS THE ALLIED GRIP TIGHTENS ON BAGHDAD - RESISTANCE CRUMBLES AS BRITISH TROOPS MAKE A DECISIVE PUSH Gethin Chamberlain near Basra THE IRAQIS were hiding in a bunker at the side of the road when the tanks first spotted them, just on the limit of their combat zone. There were four of them, waiting at a crossroads in the south-west of the al-Hadi area of Basra, slotting another rocket-propelled grenade into their launcher to fire at the advancing British troops. The request to engage came over the CO's radio. A moment's pause, and the reply crackled back: "You are now clear to engage the bunker with four men, with hesh and co-ax." High-explosive shells and chain gun - that's what the jargon meant, and nothing could stand in their way. Inside the bunker, the militiamen had only a few seconds left. The sound of a dull explosion rolled across the city. Over the radio, the Challenger tank crew reported the kill: "The target was engaged and the job was done." On the other side of the bridge over the Shatt al-Basra canal, Lieutenant William Colquhoun had unpacked his bagpipes and sat perched on the turret of his Warrior waiting for the order to advance. As the sun poked through the smoke rolling over the marshland, wading birds picked their way through the long grass. The sound of "Scotland the Brave" drifted across the bridge, competing with the clatter of rotor blades as four Cobra helicopters joined the attack. At the controls of his Cobra, a US Marine pilot, Major Steve Hall, was looking for more targets to hit when he felt the first bullets rip into the fuselage. A round embedded itself in the nose cone, inches from where his co-pilot, First Lieutenant Dale Behm, was peering through his sights. Another smashed the targeting device ahead of him, more tore through the rotors and the gearbox. The cockpit was on fire, but he had nowhere safe to land. People he could not see were firing at him from windows in the shanty town below. Spotting a British Challenger tank near the bridge, he inched the Cobra down. In the sky above, his wingman had spotted the muzzle flashes, and wheeled round to exact revenge. His chain gun rattled and the gunmen on the ground fell silent. All along the western edge of the city, more dramas were played out. The early fighting was fierce, rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire coming in from all directions. But, as the Black Watch pushed on into the heart of Basra, the resistance began to crumble. People started to come out onto the streets to point out the places where the Fedayeen were hiding. With the defenders in retreat, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Riddell- Webster's men pushed on. In the headquarters of the 7th Armoured Brigade, Brigadier Graham Binns realised it was time to commit everything he had to the battle. What had started as another tentative raid to test out the resolve of the defenders had become a headlong rush to capture the city, each unit vying with the next to capture more and more targets. Objectives which had earlier been thought beyond reach fell one by one. As a hot and howling gale tore through the city, the battle for Basra was finally under way. From the centre of the city came the thump of more explosions. Warriors were disgorging their troops outside the shanty town, the Black Watch infantry advancing into the warren of houses. By 11am the advance had pushed far into the city, companies pushing north and south. D company had taken out the Baath party headquarters near the docks and were heading south, bringing a huge swathe of the city into British hands. The Royal Tank Regiment was pushing further through to help clear the central area and in the south itself the Scots Dragoon Guards swept through. Columns of vehicles poured in, and people stood by the roadside to wave. And on and on it went, the battle raging until dusk, the radios relaying news of each advance, tanks pursuing the enemy into the areas they still held, engaging them, destroying them. Iraqi civilians were beginning to believe that it was finally happening, that the big push that had been promised for days had finally arrived. The militia were fighting on, but the city was falling.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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