News Search Search this site or the web powered by FreeFind Site search Web search Story archive		30-05-2005 The Scotsman Analysis Lawless outpost of Iraq that even Saddam Hussein couldn't control By Gethin Chamberlain THOUGH it features rarely in reports about Iraq, the town of al Amarah is by far the most difficult place to keep order in the British sector. Located on the Tigris river and close to the Iranian border, Amarah and its surrounding area has long been regarded as a lawless tract in which bandits and smugglers have thrived, and security forces have struggled. Even Saddam Hussein despaired of controlling the place and his regime left the town largely to its own devices. It is not a posting that British soldiers particularly relish; Camp Abu Naji to the south of the town has been improved dramatically since they arrived, but it remains vulnerable to regular mortar and rocket attacks. In 2003 the nearby town of Majar al Kabir was the scene of the worst single attack on British forces when six military policemen were cornered in the town's police station and killed when their ammunition ran out. Adding to the problem of the local population's natural antipathy towards authority, there are fierce tribal rivalries and a number of well-armed local militias. The radical Shia cleric Muqtadr al Sadr also commands considerable support in Amarah and much of the trouble encountered by British forces in and around the town has been attributed to his Mahdi army. The proximity to Iran also creates problems, and although the British government will not say so publicly, military commanders have expressed considerable frustration in private about Tehran's interventions across the porous border. There are frequent meetings between senior British officers and local politicians and tribal leaders, but trust is a commodity in short supply and twice last year Amarah was the scene of major flare-ups which led to widescale fighting. Troops moving into the town were targeted with blast bombs, rocket-propelled grenades and an assortment of small arms fire and it became too dangerous to travel in anything other than armoured vehicles. Trouble flared up in April, when in one incident the commanding officer of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was pinned down with 20 of his men in the town centre in a gunfight which lasted for an hour and a half. The following month the situation deteriorated further and several bravery awards were later awarded to troops involved in the fighting, notably to members of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment. Private Johnson Beharry, 25, became the first living solder in 40 years to be awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery under fire. The Black Watch bore the brunt of one extremely difficult period in July, when after a period of relative calm, the town exploded in violence again; by the time it subsided, the regiment had got through 100,000 rounds of ammunition, there had been more than 400 mortar rounds dropped on their base and they had counted 853 attacks in the town. Attacks on British soldiers in Amarah and the rest of Maysan province have continued on a regular basis, but the Ministry of Defence does not go out of its way to publicise them and they go largely unreported, partly due to the town's remoteness from the main press corps in Baghdad and partly because of a misconception that British forces go about their duties without risk to life and limb. To further complicate the situation, there has been a spate of assassinations recently and security forces in the town have stepped up their activities. Yesterday's attack may be the start of a backlash against that crackdown.
		................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved.