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British forces battle Mehdi Army in Basra
BAGHDAD - British forces battled Mehdi Army fighters in the southern city of Basra after their leader, Shia cleric Moqtada Al Sadr, made a rare public appearance and called on US troops to get out of Iraq. The British military said ”a number” of militia fighters were killed in an air strike overnight after Mehdi Army militia fighters attacked British troops with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machineguns.
The Brits do air strikes? Excellent!
The attacks were believed to be in retaliation for the killing of the top Mehdi Army commander in the city on Friday by British-backed Iraqi special forces, British military spokesman Major David Gell said in a statement.

A Reuters reporter saw eight caskets at a funeral for those killed in Basra. A hospital official said 22 others had been wounded. Residents said a helicopter had attacked a group of civilians protesting against the death of the Mehdi Army leader.
They're all civilians, of course, never a combatant amongst them. Learned that trick from Hezbollah and Hamas.
Gell said British forces had responded “robustly” to attacks on their positions, using “a number of appropriate and proportional assets ... including a low-flying aircraft”.

British troops have stepped up operations against Shia militias in Basra recently as they prepare to hand it over to Iraqi security forces. Britain is preparing to reduce its 7,000-strong force to about 5,500 within the next few weeks.
Posted by: Steve White 2007-05-27
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=189328