seruriermarshal
05-08-2004, 06:54 AM
UK troops capture alive Sadr militiamen
BASRA, Iraq (AFP) - British soldiers raided two offices of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr and killed five militiamen during a series of gun battles in southern Iraq (news - web sites), according to AFP correspondents, hospital and military sources.
Armed protestors engaged in gun battles across the southern city of Basra that saw two members of Sadr's Mehdi Army killed and one captured, according to British military spokesman Squadron Leader Jon Arnold. One British soldier was wounded.
Militiamen armed with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and guns blocked off roads during the clashes in the centre of the city as groups of demonstrators against the US-led occupation gathered across the city, witnesses said.
British troops went into a Sadr office in the centre of Basra at about 10:00 am (0600 GMT), several hours after a patrol was attacked by militiamen at a square near the city centre, according to a correspondent.
There was a 20-minute gun battle followed by a second attack soon after when militiamen fired on troops from a building used by Sadr's men four kilometres (two miles) northwest of the city centre, he said.
"We can confirm there have been a number of contacts with coalition forces in Basra this morning," Arnold said.
The clashes started around an oil company and spread to several other points in the city.
"There are no reported coalition force casualties," he said. "There's great activity, so we are keeping a low profile."
The troops also raided a Sadr office in Amara, 365 kilometres (225 miles) southeast of Baghdad, after a convoy was attacked and two British soldiers were slightly wounded.
Coalition forces were fired on with RPGs and small arms, and they fired back in a series of clashes. Troops also seized mines and mortars during the fighting.
"Three militiamen were killed and six others were injured," said Dr. Saad Fakruddin at a hospital in the city.
Witnesses said the troops later left the Sadr office but reported a number of British tanks and armoured vehicles close by.
The fighting in Basra and Amara follow days of clashes between US troops and Sadr's militia in the southern Shiite cities of Najaf, Karbala, Diwaniya and Kufa, which have left scores of the Mehdi Army dead.
Twenty militiamen were killed Friday in the holy Shiite cities of Karbala and Najaf.
"What the British troops are doing today is a reaction to what the Mehdi Army did yesterday in Najaf and Karbala," said Sadr spokesman Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fartoosi.
Sadr, who has led a month-long insurgency against the US-led occupation, is holed up in Najaf, where he has vowed to lead his thousands of followers to martyrdom.
He is wanted for the murder of a rival cleric last year and the US-led coalition has embarked on a series of political and military moves to try to isolate him, crush his militia and woo disaffected young Shiite Muslims from his ranks.
BASRA, Iraq (AFP) - British soldiers raided two offices of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr and killed five militiamen during a series of gun battles in southern Iraq (news - web sites), according to AFP correspondents, hospital and military sources.
Armed protestors engaged in gun battles across the southern city of Basra that saw two members of Sadr's Mehdi Army killed and one captured, according to British military spokesman Squadron Leader Jon Arnold. One British soldier was wounded.
Militiamen armed with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and guns blocked off roads during the clashes in the centre of the city as groups of demonstrators against the US-led occupation gathered across the city, witnesses said.
British troops went into a Sadr office in the centre of Basra at about 10:00 am (0600 GMT), several hours after a patrol was attacked by militiamen at a square near the city centre, according to a correspondent.
There was a 20-minute gun battle followed by a second attack soon after when militiamen fired on troops from a building used by Sadr's men four kilometres (two miles) northwest of the city centre, he said.
"We can confirm there have been a number of contacts with coalition forces in Basra this morning," Arnold said.
The clashes started around an oil company and spread to several other points in the city.
"There are no reported coalition force casualties," he said. "There's great activity, so we are keeping a low profile."
The troops also raided a Sadr office in Amara, 365 kilometres (225 miles) southeast of Baghdad, after a convoy was attacked and two British soldiers were slightly wounded.
Coalition forces were fired on with RPGs and small arms, and they fired back in a series of clashes. Troops also seized mines and mortars during the fighting.
"Three militiamen were killed and six others were injured," said Dr. Saad Fakruddin at a hospital in the city.
Witnesses said the troops later left the Sadr office but reported a number of British tanks and armoured vehicles close by.
The fighting in Basra and Amara follow days of clashes between US troops and Sadr's militia in the southern Shiite cities of Najaf, Karbala, Diwaniya and Kufa, which have left scores of the Mehdi Army dead.
Twenty militiamen were killed Friday in the holy Shiite cities of Karbala and Najaf.
"What the British troops are doing today is a reaction to what the Mehdi Army did yesterday in Najaf and Karbala," said Sadr spokesman Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fartoosi.
Sadr, who has led a month-long insurgency against the US-led occupation, is holed up in Najaf, where he has vowed to lead his thousands of followers to martyrdom.
He is wanted for the murder of a rival cleric last year and the US-led coalition has embarked on a series of political and military moves to try to isolate him, crush his militia and woo disaffected young Shiite Muslims from his ranks.