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| Iraq | |
| Troops find hidden Iraqi cruise missiles | |
| 2003-03-24 | |
| Edited to stay on target. British troops mopping up Iraqi opposition outside Basra have discovered cruise missiles hidden in bunkers abandoned by Saddam Hussein's disintegrating southern army. The massive arsenal includes cases of rockets, giant anti-shipping mines and other ammunition piled from floor to ceiling in dozens of bunkers at what is marked on maps as the Zubayr heliport. Some of the boxes are clearly marked with the names of British manufacturers. One pile of boxes in a store housing rocket-propelled grenades bears the name of Wallop Industries Limited, based in Middle Wallop, Hampshire. Always wondered where the name came from. But the most disturbing find was two Russian-made Harith cruise missiles, each six metres (20ft) long, and nine warheads hidden in two enormous, reinforced-concrete bunkers. Another missile, as yet unidentified, was found still in its crate. The scale and possible implications of the weapons find took British forces by surprise and raised fresh questions about the extent of the Iraqi war machine and the ability of weapons inspectors to cope with the task of scouring such a vast country for prohibited ordnance. I guess Blixie missed these too. The discovery of the missiles — which were stamped with the year 2002 — came as British troops from the Black Watch regiment fought to secure the area around Iraqi's second city, Basra, in preparation for the capture of the city. It was while trying to secure the area around the heliport that units from the Black Watch stumbled upon the missiles and other weapons. The vast complex, surrounded by barbed wire, stands to the south-west of the town, defended by tanks. The defenders fled after coming under attack from coalition forces. Outside the perimeter fence about 40 bunkers were packed with rocket-propelled grenades and other ammunition. Inside, 22 larger, fortified bunkers contained larger weaponry including the Harith missiles. The missiles, with al-Harith 2002 stencilled in red paint on the side and covered with Cyrillic writing, were housed in 60ft-long bunkers protected by steel double doors 1ft thick. Painted grey, the missiles have two wings, each with a span of about 2ft, and three tail fins. There was no indication of the nature of the warheads fitted and experts have been called in to examine them. Also housed inside the reinforced bunkers were what appeared to be large anti-shipping mines, and a host of other munitions. On one box, written in English, were the words: "Contract AS Navy. 5/1980 Iran." Corporal Iain Robertson said troops had discovered the missiles when they spotted children breaking into the heliport. "We came to see what they were looking at and found the bunkers with their doors wide open. When we went inside we came across those things." Corporal Steven Airzee added: "The initial sight was a shock. We were trying to figure out what they were. You have to wonder whether the weapons inspectors have been there because they looked pretty big." Any comment, Blixie? The entrance to the heliport was decorated with a picture of Saddam Hussein in military uniform. The area was surrounded by wrecked vehicles and abandoned, sandbagged fox holes, some flying white flags, and was overlooked by a network of watchtowers. Many of the buildings had already been looted by local people who took anything that could be carried by truck. There were also fears that weapons may have been taken from some of the bunkers that lay open outside the perimeter fence. Inside one, troops discovered open boxes containing rocket-propelled grenades. In the same building were a large pile of wooden weapons crates, unopened, marked Wallop Industries Limited. The boxes had red stickers warning: "Danger - do not load in passenger aircraft." Considerate! Lieutenant Angus Watson said soldiers had found the haul when they arrived on Saturday night. "The complex is massive and we were surprised to find a lot of the kit intact, easily enough for a whole brigade," he said. They also discovered hundreds of leaflets lying on the floor, dropped by coalition planes, urging the defenders to surrender. The leaflets, and evidence of a bombardment from the air or by artillery, appeared to have persuaded the defenders to abandon their posts without a fight.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 Don't worry, Bulldog. Before this is over, they'll find plenty of that crap too. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-03-24 10:22:50 |
| #3 Raptor, Wallop industries are based in Middle Wallop, Hertfordshire (I think), England. Seems no doubt that's genuine. Yesterday I read the crates were marked with what I assumed to be the year "80". It's not good news, but we still don't know whether these things came direct from the UK anyway. At least this might lessen the cries of "evidence fabrication" - it would be far, far better to be able to say they were French, German or Russian-made. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-03-24 10:03:49 |
| #2 Hey, this must be wrong. The Russians Deny Selling Iraq Weapons, this is from the article posted about 10 articles up. |
| Posted by: Jabba the Tutt 2003-03-24 09:29:58 |
| #1 Articles taken from Yahoo Breaking News: Papers in chem.plant written in English,Arabic, and Cyrilic. Cruise missles found with Cyrilic stencils painted on them,crates containing rpg's with Wallop Industries Limited stencilled on the side.These weapons were found by Royal Marines! Sounds like a definate link between Russia and Iraqi WMD programs.Also did a Google on Wallop(didn't click on the links)it appears to be a British weapons manufacturer. What the hell is a British arms manufacturer doing selling weapons to Iraq? Wonder how they feel about Royal Marines being killed with Wallop provided weapons? |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-03-24 09:29:19 |