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Popular uprising in Basra
Basra :: Richard Gaisford :: 1715GMT (Tuesday, 25 March)This is a most significant development this evening. There is a popular uprising in the city of Basra. People are rising up against the ruling Ba'ath regime, we are being told by military intelligence officers there that they have had enough. Iraqi soldiers in the city are actually firing mortar rounds on their own people. That is the information we are getting. FOLLOWUP: Here's the SkyNews story... Rioting is taking place in Basra by locals opposed to Saddam Hussein, reports say. Iraqi troops are reported to be firing on the rioters with mortars. British forces are firing back at the Iraqi positions, which are trying to crush the civilian uprising. The ruling Ba'ath Party HQ is reported to have been hit after two large explosion rocked the city centre.Reporter Richard Gaisford said intelligence from the city suggested that local people had indicated they would welcome the Allied forces but were in fear of Saddam loyalists. "Now it seems they have had the courage to stand up to Saddam Hussein and his regime and they will be supported by British forces," Gaisford said. Earlier, about 20 of Saddam Hussein's henchmen were killed and a key party official captured in a night-time raid by British forces near Basra, British military sources said. Soldiers from the 7th Armoured Brigade raided a regional Ba'ath Party headquarters in Al Zubayr, near Basra, where there has been fierce resistance from Iraqi troops, the source said. They moved in on the complex in the early hours with the aim of capturing the high-ranking party figure. He was guarded by members of Saddam's Special Security Organisation and fanatical Fedayeen fighters loyal to the Iraqi president, the source at the Coalition Command HQ in Qatar said. The Desert Rats surrounded the building with Challenger 2 tanks before the lightning raid. As the British soldiers swooped, a fierce gunfight broke out and dozens of Iraqis were hit. There were no British casualties. The senior party figure, thought to be responsible for helping organise resistance in the Al Zubayr and Basra area, was successfully snatched and taken prisoner. Posted by: A 2003-03-25 |
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