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29-3-2003 The Times Iraqis shoot at desperate crowds fleeing Basra;Iraq war;Front line By Gethin Chamberlain outside Basra and David Charter in Qatar TWICE yesterday hundreds of desperate people poured out of Basra looking for food and water. Twice they came under fire from within their own city. The British Army, which almost totally encircles the city, aimed mortars at the attackers as the crowds caught in the middle dashed for cover. As relative calm descended last night, the coalition forces could only sit and wait on the outskirts as their deadly game of cat and mouse with President Saddam Hussein's ruthless paramilitaries continued. The only comfort for the citizens of Basra yesterday was the successful seizure by 42 Commando of the city's main water pumping plant - although it has been out of action for so long that the Royal Engineers will have to work furiously to revive it. More than 1,000 men, women and children from Iraq's second city were caught up in deadly confrontations yesterday. The first incident involved small arms fire being trained on them. The second came on the other side of the city when mortar rounds were fired from Basra as a crowd were halfway across a bridge separating them from the Black Watch. A young woman fell, hit by shrapnel. Then a pick-up truck broke cover, the machinegun mounted on its roof spewing bullets at the crowd. On the British side, a tank lurched forward, the gunner training his sights on the truck a few hundred yards ahead. One shot and the truck was blown apart, the three people in it killed instantly. Around the British positions, mortar shells were falling, with the Black Watch firing back. In the turret of his Warrior armoured vehicle, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Riddell-Webster, the commanding officer, said the crowd had appeared at about 8am, clearly desperate to flee. British tanks had held them at the far bank before the decision was taken to let them cross. "The people were overjoyed when we let them through. They were blowing kisses and waving their hands in thanks. "As they came across the bridge, the Iraqis opened up with 50mm mortar fire from the southern edge of an estate near the bridge. The intent was clearly to stop their own people moving across. "Then a pick-up with a machinegun mounted on the back came down the road and opened fire on our troops and the civilians. One of our tanks fired back and destroyed it. One of our lads had a bullet rip through his smock, which was a bit close." On the far side of the bridge, 200 or more civilians who could not get across sheltered on either side of the road, terrified of moving in case they, too, came under fire. Behind them, inside the city, huge plumes of black smoke drifted eastwards from the fire pits filled with oil lit by the Iraqi defenders. Across the oily lagoons of stagnant water lying beside the canal, people could be seen scurrying for cover. The Iraqi guns fell silent. As the crowd made it safely across the bridge, they began to move along the road in the direction of al-Zubayr. They may take shelter there or camp out in the countryside around. A young woman, badly hurt, was plucked to safety by a British vehicle and driven back across the lines. Others were also injured and medics rushed to tend their wounds. Then came the clatter of rotor blades and two Lynx helicopters appeared, just visible between the concrete pillars holding up the bridge. They hung in the air for what seemed an age before releasing their missiles, guiding them into the target on the other side of the canal, then peeling away. On the Iraqi side of the Shatt al-Basrah canal, the missiles struck two positions believed to be manned by Fedayin militia who have been holding out in the besieged city. Lines started to move back across the bridge again in both directions, people coming back from al-Zubayr passing those determined to get out of Basra. In a sandbagged observation post, Major Lindsay MacDuff said: "We can shelter in our vehicles but we can't get all the civilians in. You can't get 200 people in the back of a Warrior." Major MacDuff said that even those who want the British to enter the city are facing terrible pressure from the Iraqi authorities to continue the resistance. "One man came up to us and told us that if we didn't let him through he would be shot, but the next day we saw him with an AK47 taking action against us, so the pressure they are under is clear to see. "Tribal elders are being coerced into taking action against us with the help of a gun to the head or the promise of money. The problem is fear and the regime is working on fear and the catalyst for overcoming that fear is different for everyone."
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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