Monday, May 08, 2006

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British helicopter down in Iraq

 
 

Saturday, May 06, 2006 2:24:50 PM ET

By Aref Mohammed and Alaa Habib

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - A British military helicopter was brought down in the city of Basra on Saturday, killing four people on board, Iraqi officials said, sparking clashes between troops and angry youths throwing petrol bombs.

Britain's government said "a number of" British military personnel were killed and said the cause was unclear. Police said a rocket hit the helicopter and firefighters said they found four charred bodies in the aircraft, which hit a house.

No one on the ground was hurt in the crash, police said.

Morgue officials said they knew of four Iraqis killed in the confused hours of violence after youths at the crash site chanted victory slogans for the Mehdi Army, a Shi'ite militia opposed to the occupation.

"I can confirm the tragic deaths of a number of British service personnel," said Defense Secretary Des Browne, appointed only on Friday in a cabinet reshuffle.

As troops in Warrior armored battle vehicles, some with riot shields, cordoned off the area, youths chanting "Victory to the Mehdi Army" threw rocks and petrol bombs. Soldiers used foam to douse fires ignited on their vehicles.

British military spokesman Squadron Leader Al Green said troops counted about 60 rounds fired in the air from the crowd -- not uncommon in Iraq.

In London, a Ministry of Defense statement said British forces fired three live rounds in defense when they came under attack.

A local journalist said he was hit in the leg by a British baton round and saw troops aim their ordinary rifles. He said he saw at least one man dead. Witnesses said a second man may have died in a car, the windshield of which was smashed and bloodied.

Several people, including children, were wounded when a mortar round later struck a house nearby, witnesses said.

LESS VIOLENCE

Dominated by the Shi'ite Muslim majority now in control in Baghdad, Basra has seen less violence than cities in the north. However, friction between the occupying force and militia groups such as the Mehdi Army of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr does flare up.

British military sources confirmed ground fire seemed the likeliest explanation for the crash, near the local governor's office. The make of the helicopter was not clear.

Basra police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Kareem al-Zaidi said: "A Multi-National Forces helicopter was hit by a rocket."

Dozens have died when helicopters have been brought down in Iraq, many not by guided missiles, of which guerrillas have few, but by gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades. They tend to fly fast and low, to reduce the time attackers have to take aim.

Sadr, a firebrand in his early 30s, demands an end to the U.S. and British occupation. He is a key figure in the Islamist Alliance bloc that will lead a new Iraqi government.

In September last year, British forces clashed with Mehdi Army militants. The British public was startled by images of a soldier escaping an armored vehicle, his uniform in flames.

Senior British officers have complained that rival Shi'ite militia factions have effectively taken control of different elements of Iraq's second city, close to the Gulf and the border with Shi'ite Iran, 550 km (340 miles) south of Baghdad.

Before Saturday, 104 British service personnel had died in Iraq. About 8,000 are deployed there, with 133,000 Americans.

UNITY GOVERNMENT

There were signs of agreement among Iraqi leaders that a unity government could be formed soon. Shi'ite Vice-President Adel Abdul Mahdi said: "I expect the announcement will come in the next few days ... There are no serious complications."

Sectarian bloodshed has increased since the destruction of a major Shi'ite shrine in Samarra in February, prompting warnings of civil war and adding to pressure from Washington and London for Iraqis to settle their differences quickly.

Both the United States and Britain are keen to withdraw as many troops as possible as quickly as possible and are building up Iraq's own army and police to that end.

Three Iraqi Army officers, including a lieutenant-colonel, were killed inside their base by a suicide bomber in Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit on Saturday, police said.

It was not the first time an insurgent had dressed in army uniform and evaded identity checks to attack Iraqi soldiers.

(Additional reporting by Alaa Habib in Basra and Ahmed Rasheed, Lutfi Abu Oun, Ibon Villelabeitia, Mariam Karouny, Terry Friel and Alastair Macdonald in Baghdad and David Clarke in London)


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