British tanks surge into central Basra to eliminate resistance

AFTER a two-week siege, British tanks shot their way into the centre of Basra yesterday in a bid to stamp out dogged resistance in Iraq’s second city from paramilitary fighters loyal to President Saddam Hussein.

British officers confirmed reports by Iraqi civilians leaving the city that a column of tanks and armoured personnel carriers had reached Baghdad Street running through the centre of Basra, Iraq’s main southern city close to the Gulf coast.

“It’s a town we clearly have got to get into and we’ve got to finally eradicate the (ruling) Baath Party and the irregulars who are operating in there,” British military spokesman Chris Vernon told BBC television.