British soldiers targeted...

[NcDeuce]

British soldiers targeted in Basra blast: defence ministry

LONDON (AFP) - Two British soldiers suffered minor injuries in an explosion in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the British defence ministry said.

The troops were on routine patrol in the south west of Iraq's second city when a small explosive device detonated at the side of the road at about 9:00 am (0600 GMT), a defence ministry spokesman said.

"I can confirm there was an explosion but the two soldiers suffered a couple of cuts and bruises, no more," he said.

"It was an improvised explosive device at the side of the road but the injuries were very, very minor."

The vast majority of the 10,000 or so British troops in Iraq are in the south of the country, with headquarters in the port city of Basra.

Sunday's incident occurred shortly after a massive suicide truck bomb outside the US headquarters in Baghdad left at least 23 people reportedly dead and another 99 wounded.

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20040118/capt.sge.bxh30.180104113425.photo00.default-384x256.jpg
A US soldier inspects a destroyed bus after a massive suicide truck bomb blew up at the main gate to the US-led coalition headquarters.(AFP/Mauricio Lima)

[Argyll]

The unrest in Iraq is beggining to spread,there are more incidents starting to rear their ugly heads in the Basra area.
My old regiment have just moved there and will be there for 6 months,they've just completed a 2 year tour in Northern Ireland,so their skills in IS will be needed a lot I fear!!

[California Joe]

At least they should be on top of their game. They've had plenty of practice.

[Argyll]

Exactly why they were sent Joe!! ;)

[California Joe]

You mean for once the powers that be made the correct deployment choice? :P Got to go with the professionals. Hard time finding Guiness in Iraq though. ;)

[Javehn]

I don't mean to disrespect the British troops , but how well they prepare to Iraq ? I mean , what is the intencity of action in Ireland , can it be compared a bit to Iraq ? Again , i have full respect to British troops , it's seams they act most proffesional in Iraq those days .

[marktigger]

The intensity of operations in Northern Ireland has fallen but the lessons learned are in many cases just as applicable. The whole way the UK conducts this type of operation worldwide has been learnt on the streets of Belfast. And I would say they way our soldiers are taught to interact with civilians has been learnt from Northern Ireland. I would say the Americans should have looked more closley at how we policed West Belfast and less at how the Israeli have attempted to police the west bank and gaza strip. No disrespect to the Israeli guys doing the Job but our experience in Belfast was more aplicable to the desired end result in Iraq than yours in Israel is to the west bank and gaza strip.

[Javehn]

The intensity of operations in Northern Ireland has fallen but the lessons learned are in many cases just as applicable. The whole way the UK conducts this type of operation worldwide has been learnt on the streets of Belfast. And I would say they way our soldiers are taught to interact with civilians has been learnt from Northern Ireland. I would say the Americans should have looked more closley at how we policed West Belfast and less at how the Israeli have attempted to police the west bank and gaza strip. No disrespect to the Israeli guys doing the Job but our experience in Belfast was more aplicable to the desired end result in Iraq than yours in Israel is to the west bank and gaza strip.

No , i am actually been saying the same things. The differrent target that the forces in Iraq have (the master target) , is all different then IDF has , as the ground , the enemy , and many other variables - they all dictates that the forces in Iraq should reffer to different tactic . And even when we are masters in keeping soldiers allive , we have very futile experience with "winning hearts and minds" , something that Brits master more .

I was interested , what is the intencity of "action" in NI those days (if it's even exist) , and what were British "fluid security" actions in NI . If it can be used same manner in Iraq .

(from this movie , with the charge exploded on soldiers , that got saved by brave tree , it seems that the US troops not learned so well from us . I mean , common..)

[Royal]

There is very little in the way of overt Ops in the Province these days, but that does not mean that units there (or tasked for there) do not maintain a program of training and exercises for the possiblity of an increase in violence.

That along with the 'corporate knowledge' (sounding like a staff officer again :oops: ) from PSO's in the Balkans and Africa mean that there is a huge experience base in most units.

So a battalion like the Argylls has a two year head start on training for patrols in places like Iraq.