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Basra ?Ånowhere near under allied control?Å
The besieged city of Basra is "clearly nowhere near" under Allied forces' control, a British officer admitted today. Colonel Chris Vernon also revealed five days of fighting had made it impossible to get aid into the area. A ship laden with hundreds of tonnes of food and essential supplies for the people of Basra today docked in the nearby port of Umm Qasr. But Col Vernon warned: "Basra is clearly nowhere near yet in our hands and we have no way at the moment of getting humanitarian aid into Basra." He was confident the city would eventually fall, but could not say how long it would take. "Not easy, no time lines on it," he said. Hopes had risen that aid would finally be delivered to 1.5 million civilians trapped in the city as a British Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship arrived in Umm Qasr. The Sir Galahad - carrying 200 tonnes of food and 100 tonnes of bottled water - has been delayed for several days because of Iraqi resistance in the town and mines in the channel approaching the dock. Civilians trying to flee Basra were shot at by Iraqi militias today, another military source claimed. Posted by: Murat 2003-03-28 |
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