First Published 2004-01-10, Last Updated 2004-01-10 20:21:25


Amara, not as quiet as it used to be

 
British troops, Iraqi police kill 6 jobs protestors

 
Violent clashes in the southern city of Amara as hundreds of unemployed workers demonstrate.

 
AMARA, Iraq - At least six Iraqis were killed and eight wounded Saturday when police and British forces opened fired on armed men who infiltrated a protest in the southern city of Amara, sources and witnesses said.

Several hundred unemployed workers demonstrated outside the local government building and British military's civil affairs office in Amara Saturday morning when protestors started to throw stones.

"The crowd became agitated. An incident occurred where shots were fired and the Iraqi police service thinking themselves under attack opened fire," said British Warrant Officer Paul Wightman.

Rocks and sound grenades were hurled by the crowd moments before police sprayed gunfire, said witness Nasser al-Halfi, an academic.

Two hours later, four dead and three wounded were brought to Amara General Hospital, said the hospital's director of security Jassem al-Mussawi.

Another two dead and five wounded were brought to al-Zahrawi hospital, said Doctor Wael Shaker.

British army vehicles reinforced the police, Wightman said, adding that three hand grenades were hurled at two British army vehicles.

"The soldiers identified one Iraqi male who was in the process of throwing a device and they returned fire," he said.

Wightman said the man was apparently shot dead and removed from the crowd, while fighting continued intermittently.

At about 2:30 pm, two more "explosive devices" were thrown at another British army vehicle and soldiers opened fire, wounding another man who was taken away by the crowd, Wightman said.

The protestors then pelted the British soldiers again with "three devices .. before calm returned."

Wightman put the death toll at five and the number of injured at one.

Amara, 365 kilometres (225 miles) southeast of Baghdad, populated by the country's Shiite majority and under British jurisdiction, has generally been far quieter than central Iraq, where insurgents have waged a relentless campaign against US forces.

But unemployment is a major problem in Iraq, with some putting the jobless rate at 50 percent of the population. The southern port of Basra was rocked by violent riots in August over power and gas shortages.
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