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.

“We are doing it with tanks that can take enemy small (arms) fire and with our infantry,” Vernon said, adding that the British had seized a moment of opportunity after receiving information from residents on the whereabouts of Baathists.

Troops of the Irish Guards and Royal Scots Dragoons Guards had set off at dawn from a base near a bridge on the southern edge of Basra in 14 tanks and 14 Warrior armoured personnel carriers, Irish Guards Captain Alex Cosby said.

They advanced some two to three miles to a roundabout Capt Cosby described as the gates of Basra before pushing on. Residents later reported seeing nine or 10 tanks about a mile farther into the city.

It was not immediately clear whether the British forces intended to establish a permanent presence in central Basra or withdraw again after raiding their targets.

In the early afternoon, 15 tanks and troop carriers were seen returning to their base near the bridge. But 15 Challenger tanks later left the base heading toward the city.

British officers and Basra residents said the British column had met fire from Iraqi Fedayeen paramilitaries in Basra and along the main road leading up to the city from shanty towns on the outskirts.

“We met resistance but a lot has been destroyed. We have destroyed some armour and we are now engaging bunker positions,” Capt Cosby said at one point.

British and US forces have been encircling Basra since soon after invading Iraq from the south on March 20. They have so far held back from trying to storm Basra, saying they want to avoid major civilian casualties.

At the US and British central command in Qatar, a British military spokesman said the aim was to set up checkpoints within the city boundaries “to reassure the population that we are coming to liberate them”.

“There’s still a fair way to go but this is another step forward,” Group Captain Al Lockwood said.

British and US officials had hoped the Shi’ite Muslim people of Basra, who have no love for Saddam, a Sunni, would rise up of their own accord.

But Iraq’s southern Shi’ites have bitter memories of doing just that after the 1991 Gulf War and being brutally suppressed by Saddam’s forces after getting no help from the US and its allies.

There have been persistent reports of Baathists intimidating Basra residents during the latest war.