Tanks storm Basra jail to free soldiers

BRITISH forces using tanks broke down the walls of Basra jail to free two service personnel arrested for firing on Iraqi policemen, it was reported last night.

Witnesses told the Associated Press that about 150 Iraqi prisoners fled the jail as well.

The British Ministry of Defence would not comment on the report.

Violence flared earlier in the day as demonstrators hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at British tanks and at least four people were killed in the major outbreak of hostilities.

The fighting erupted after British tanks encircled the jail where the two Britons were being held.

During the melee, one soldier could be seen scrambling for his life from a burning tank and a rock-throwing mob.

Another soldier was seen engulfed by flames tumbling from a tank and gunfire was exchanged between the two sides, leaving two civilians dead and 15 injured.

The MoD refused to comment after officials said that they were undercover officers dressed as Arabs.

British troops had arrived at the police station where the two men were being held and encircled the building, where they were attacked by demonstrators with stones and petrol bombs.

Earlier a Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “We can confirm that two military personnel were detained by Iraqi authorities earlier today.”

He added: “We are continuing to try to thrash out with the Iraqi authorities what’s happened and what can be done.

“We are trying to get to the bottom of what happened but at the moment we don’t know.”

Photographs showed the unshaven pair in custody, dressed casually in T-shirts and trousers, and sitting on the floor with their hands behind their backs.

One of the men had his head swathed in bandages and appeared to have bloodstains on his top.

The other, who apparently had blood smeared on his trousers, had plasters on his head.

Nadhim al-Jabari, the Basra provincial council’s spokesman, said the two men were likely to go before an Iraqi court.

It was unclear if they had yet been charged.

Mr al-Jabari said top officials from Basra province were negotiating to defuse the crisis.

Earlier, Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Sir Menzies Campbell said: “If these events reflect a breakdown in the relationship between the civilian authorities and the British military, then they are very worrying indeed.

“These events underline the need for a coherent exit strategy of British forces from Iraq.”

Tensions have been rising in recent months in the British-controlled region, where civilians and soldiers have been killed in suspected insurgent attacks.