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British Forces Fight Tank Battle South of Basra
British forces south of Basra have blocked an attempted breakout by up to 50 Iraqi tanks seeking to press southward from the edge of the city, a British naval commander said on Tuesday. Captain Alan Massey of the flagship aircraft carrier Ark Royal said British light tanks from the Queen's Dragoons' Guard and marines from two battalions on the Faw Peninsula had halted the advance of the Iraqi tanks overnight and on Tuesday morning. "They were aided by small helicopter gunships and further surveillance helicopters stationed on board ships in Britain's amphibious task force off the Iraqi coast," he told Reuters. "We can't attack them directly because of fear of collateral damage (civilian casualties) so we get them when they poke out," Massey added.There's a trend here I don't like. He said the helicopter and ground forces had destroyed five to seven Iraqi tanks in the fighting so far. British troops have taken over all responsibility for southern Iraq as U.S. forces press on toward the north in their campaign to oust President Saddam Hussein. Earlier, a British spokesman at Central Command headquarters in Qatar said British troops would not enter Basra, Iraq's second city, to battle "Fedayeen" irregular Iraqi fighters. "We're not going into Basra, it's simply considered a target," a British military spokesman at Central Command headquarters in Qatar told Reuters. "The reason it is a potential target is because it has an enormous political and military importance in the area." If you don't go in you don't have the town. Brigadier Jim Dutton of the 3 commando brigade of the Royal Marines told Reuters an Iraqi unit of T-55 tanks was causing problems for the British at Abul Khasib, southeast of Basra, because they were hiding among houses. "They pose no real threat to us. They are not going to be able to advance but it is very difficult to winkle them out because of our collateral damage requirements," he told Reuters. "They are in built-up areas on the southern edge of Abul Khasib on the main east-west road that runs into Basra," he said. Since the United States and Britain invaded Iraq last Thursday, British troops have been reluctant to engage in urban warfare which would endanger the civilian population. "If we were prepared to flatten the houses we could destroy the tanks but we are not prepared to flatten the houses because that is not what we have come here for," Dutton said. And it's going to cost us lives. British Lieutenant Colonel Ronnie McCourt, also at Central Command, said: "All options are open to us. If you're going to put your hand into the hornet's nest you have to make sure you are fully protected. Close-quarter stuff (fighting) really would not be our first choice." We don't have a choice, I'm afraid. Sammy's hard boys are dispursed within the population and will shoot anyone who trys to give up. People won't give up or turn them in if we don't put forces in the city and they see we aren't going away. Posted by: Steve 2003-03-25 |
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