War in Iraq, 2003 page 2
Looking for trouble Story archive
			RESISTANCE MELTS LIKE THE SNOWS IN SPRING AS THE crowd swarmed around the tanks, waving and cheering, a man pushed forward with a bunch of flowers in his hand, picked from one of the gardens at the side of the wide-open street in the heart of Basra. He stepped up to the tank and handed one pink bloom to each of the soldiers standing up in the turret, and one to the driver whose head was poking through the open hatch at the front. And, in that moment, it was clear, finally, that to all intents and purposes, the war in the south of Iraq really was over. April 9, 2003,
			War in the Gulf: Into Basra - and the mood changes: British advance Paras mobbed by cheerful crowds as troops wonder at lack of resistance from Fedayeen Among those sweeping through the city, there was an almost palpable sense of disappointment, that this citadel which had held out for so long could be quite so ordinary. In the end, it seemed, no one had really wanted to stay on to fight. April 8, 2003,
			BLACK WATCH LEADS WAY IN TO BASRA SADDAM Hussein's grip on power appeared to be crumbling last night, as British troops took control of Basra and United States forces tightened the noose around Baghdad. Hundreds of British tanks and thousands of soldiers streamed into Basra, encountering only sporadic resistance from Iraqi militia and an increasingly friendly welcome from civilians. The speed of the thrust into Iraq's second city, spearheaded by the Black Watch, has convinced US military commanders that the end of the Iraqi regime is only a matter of hours away. April 7, 2003,
			DEADLOCK ON THE EDGE OF BASRA THE heat is stifling, sapping the spirit, sending the soldiers slinking into what little shade they can find. Lying under their vehicles, sprawled beneath canvas sheets, slumped in the slit trenches they dug the day they first arrived when they still feared the sudden attacks which sent them scampering for cover, they lie listlessly, moving only to find another bottle of the water which has been baking in the sun for hours. Camped around the outskirts of Basra, they have been waiting for days for something to happen, launching sporadic raids, testing out the resolve of the defenders, wearing them down. April 6, 2003,
			FEAR OF HARMING CIVILIANS LIMITS SHELLING OF IRAQI MILITIA IN BASRA THE British guns are firing again, just as they did last night and just as they have done every night this week. The shells arc into the sky, glowing orange as they soar towards Basra with a deafening roar. They explode over the city, a pyrotechnic display lighting up the night sky. The huge 95lb shells packed with high explosive smash into the buildings sheltering militia forces. April 5, 2003,
			THE IRAQ CONFLICT: Boredom of troops who wait for the order to advance THE WAR has moved on. The guns still pound away every night, the thump and bang rousing all around from their slumber to curse the artillery men, the shells whistling overhead, the distant thud of 90lbs of high explosive landing on some other poor soul. April 4,2003
			ONE IRAQI'S STORY OF HIS FLIGHT FROM OPPRESSION UNTIL the bombs began to fall on Basra, the man sitting in the low, white building on the western edge of the neighbouring town of Az Zubayr had been a teacher, struggling to educate the young people of Iraq's second city and struggling to keep a roof over the heads of his young family. He worked long hours, 6am to 6pm, for little money and less thanks, lucky at least to be an educated man with a chance of finding a job, lucky enough to be able to afford to build a couple of extra rooms on to the two-room building that served as home for himself, his wife and three young children. But he would never be as lucky as some, those who joined the Baath Party or those who had always supported the regime of Saddam Hussein. Only they enjoyed the benefits of Saddam's largesse. Only they could buy the meat and vegetables and eggs he and his family craved, only they could fill the top jobs and earn the big salaries and collect the perks that made life in Iraq bearable. April 3, 2003,
			BASRA BRITISH STEP UP CAMPAIGN BRITISH troops have been involved in heavy fighting around the southern Iraqi city of Basra as they step up their campaign there. Fedayeen militia were targeted by overnight bombing raids, in which 16 JDAM bombs - 2,000lb devices guided to their targets using global positioning satellite technology - were dropped on the city, but there was no official confirmation of casualty figures. April 3, 2003,
			BLACK WATCH DOCTORS DISTRIBUTE MEDICINES HOARDED BY REGIME THOUSANDS of boxes of children's medicines seized by British troops on a raid on a militia headquarters in the town of Az Zubayr, near Basra, are being given out to parents by army doctors in the town in an attempt to win over the local population. British troops found enough medicines, including antibiotics and treatments for pneumonia and tapeworm, for 10,000 children when they searched a health centre last week which had been taken over by the Baath Party and militia in the town. April 2, 2003,
			BRITISH TROOPS DISCOVER AL SAMUD MISSILES IN A UNIVERSITY BRITISH troops in Basra say they have found prohibited Al Samud missiles housed in a university building writes Gethin Chamberlain in southern Iraq. The missiles, which UN weapons inspector Hans Blix ordered to be destroyed, were discovered on Saturday in what British forces described as a university building in the south-west of the city. Troops who entered the building found 13 missiles. March 31, 2003,
			WE RAN FOR COVER AS MORTAR ROUNDS EXPLODED IT WAS about 3am when word came over the radio that an Iraqi mortar battery firing 120mm shells had opened up from somewhere to the north of the British troop concentration south-west of Basra, writes Gethin Chamberlain. Powerful mortars with a range of up to 18km, they explode with a deafening bang, shooting shrapnel in all directions. March 30, 2003,
			IT WAS MEANT TO BE BASRA BY BREAKFAST AND BAGHDAD IN TIME FOR TEA STRANGE to think that it is only a week since we crossed the Iraqi border, that mixture of anticipation and excitement and trepidation as we drove through the gaps in the sand bank, passed the wire and over the ditches and on into Iraq. We didn't know then about the militiamen with their rocket-propelled grenades, had no reason to fear the guerrilla raids, the sudden explosion of mortar rounds, the rattle of gunfire from unseen enemies by the roadside. We didn't know then that those two soldiers would disappear without a trace, or that all the others would be gone. Back then, the war was supposed to last three days at most. Basra by breakfast, Baghdad in time for tea. The Iraqis would welcome us with open arms and Saddam would be a footnote in history. Our biggest problem would be coping with the thousands of Iraqi prisoners surrendering because they had no stomach for the fight. March 29, 2003,
			WEAPONS DISCOVERED NEXT TO MEDICINE IN CHILDREN'S CLINIC BRITISH troops in the town of Az Zubayr have found a children's health centre that has been taken over by the Iraqi militia and converted into an armoury. Enough children's medicine for 10,000 treatments was found unopened next to rooms packed with rocket-propelled grenades, AK47 rifles and ammunition. March 29, 2003,
			TENSE SCENES IN AZ ZUBAYR AS DESPERATE CROWDS SCRAMBLE FOR LONG-AWAITED FOOD AND WATER THE crowd had been growing since the early hours, young men in bright football jerseys, women in their black chadors, older men in their long jelabbahs. Children ran around excitedly, looking up coyly at the soldiers behind the lines of orange and white tape stretched out in front of the area from which the food and water was to be handed out. By 9am, several hundred men, women and children are outside the former Iraqi army compound taken over by the British troops who have moved into the town of Az Zubayr. March 28, 2003,
			POWS: 'AL-QAEDA FIGHTERS IN IRAQ' CAPTURED Iraqi soldiers have told British interrogators that al-Qaeda terrorists are fighting on the side of Saddam Hussein's forces against allied troops near Basra. At least a dozen members of Osama bin Laden's network are in the town of Az Zubayr, where they are co-ordinating grenade and gun attacks on coalition positions, according to the Iraqi prisoners of war. March 28, 2003,
			WRECKED VEHICLES WERE EVERYWHERE AS TROOPS WATCHED FOR SIGNS OF TROUBLE THE light was failing when the shouting started, soldiers running for their vehicles, engines revving, a frantic scramble to move out. The word went from unit to unit - thousands of Iraqi militia had appeared in Basra and Az Zubayr and were pouring out of the city to take on the British troops laying siege at the bridges. Among those supporting the forward units, there was consternation. Orders were given to get into convoy and get out. As they waited for the tanks to arrive to support the withdrawal, lights extinguished to reduce the threat it was clear they were now facing, a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) landed between the lead vehicles. It exploded with a deafening crash, but narrowly avoided the waiting troops. March 27, 2003,
			Enemy target red cross on ambulances;Iraq War II AMBULANCE drivers told how they came under fire from enemy troops who used their RED CROSSES as targets. Two of the bullet-scarred armoured vehicles arrived in Az Zubayr to help with the humanitarian relief effort. March 27, 2003
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