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21-01-2005 Scotsman British soldiers hurt in bomb 'revenge' for prisoner abuse By Gethin Chamberlain Defence Correspondent NINE British soldiers were injured yesterday in an apparent suicide bomb attack on one of the main UK military bases in Iraq. A group led by the al-Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed it was behind the attack, which it said was to avenge the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners by British soldiers. Initial reports suggested that a suicide bomber drove up to the entrance of the sprawling Shaibah base, 20 miles south-west of Basra, and detonated a device. The injured soldiers and a number of Iraqi civilians were taken to a military hospital for treatment. The incident happened as officials named a former soldier killed in an Iraqi ambush on Tuesday as Andrew Whyte, 54, from Dundee. Of the bomb attack, an army spokesman in Basra said yesterday that nine soldiers from the 2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment were injured. One was flown to a United States medical unit in Kuwait for further treatment, while others were being treated in Iraq. The blast came the day after pictures were released of British soldiers apparently abusing Iraqi prisoners in their custody. There have been warnings that the pictures and the details of the case emerging at a court martial in Germany could provoke anger in Iraq and increase the dangers being faced by British troops. In a statement on the internet, a group describing itself as "the martyrs' brigade of al-Qaeda Organisation of Holy War in Iraq" said it was responsible for yesterday's attack. "This operation is in response to the harm inflicted by British occupation forces on our brothers in prison," the statement said. The group, which has claimed some of the deadliest attacks in Iraq, also vowed to continue its "holy war". Zarqawi was blamed for the murder last year of the British hostage Ken Bigley, who was killed after the UK government refused to withdraw troops from Iraq. Zarqawi's group is strongest around the Sunni Triangle, near Baghdad, and if yesterday's attack was the work of that group, it will be a cause of concern for British commanders in the south. Whitehall was last night monitoring reports of the blast at the Shaibah base. The Ministry of Defence said: "Several Iraqi civilians and UK military personnel have been injured and are being treated at a military hospital on the base." Meanwhile, Scot Mr Whyte, who died along with an Iraqi colleague, worked for the British-based security consultants Janusian, and had been guarding a power station complex south of Beiji, in central Iraq. The pair died as they travelled in a convoy near the power station and a third worker, a Brazilian national, is missing and feared kidnapped. Mr Whyte, from Menzieshill, Dundee, had been a self-employed tree surgeon after leaving the army and before going to Iraq. Neighbours described him as "likeable" and said he shared his home with his partner. With Iraq's elections little more than a week away, there has been a sharp upsurge in violence, and there were also claims yesterday that a Briton and a Swede had been kidnapped and killed by the Islamic militant group Ansar al-Sunnah in Beiji. The executions were reported on the internet and attributed to the group.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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