Basra 'will not be stormed', says British military

US and British forces will not immediately storm Basra, a British military spokesman said today.

“Military commanders do not engage in urban areas unless they have to,” Lieutenant Colonel Chris Vernon said. “It was necessary in (Umm) Qasr because of the port.”

The military hopes that aid agencies will quickly “fill the vacuum” to relieve the civilian population in the area so the soldiers can be freed to fight, he said.

In Umm-Qasr, where a US Marine was killed in fighting yesterday, local forces had used “guerrilla tactics” to slow the allied advance, Vernon added.

“It is easy to sit in a window and fire a rifle,” he said. “That does not constitute organised, structured resistance.”

Some had changed into civilian clothing to blend in with the population, Vernon said, taking advantage of the Allied desire to minimise civilian casualties and win over the Iraqi population.

“The Americans would actually say: ‘We’ve seen this guy, we let him go, and here he pops up again fighting,”’ he said. “They literally have to clear almost street by street.”