Troops set to enter Basra after 'uprising'

British forces were waiting for the order today to enter Basra in support of an apparent uprising by Iraqi civilians against Saddam Hussein’s militias.

And there were reports that allied troops had this morning confronted paramilitaries fleeing Iraq’s second city.

Deserts Rats of the 7th Armoured Brigade shelled Saddam loyalists yesterday after reports that they had opened fire on civilians with mortars and horizontal artillery fire, according to journalists with British forces on the edge of the city.

The Desert Rats were on standby throughout the night awaiting an order to move in on the city of 1.5 million while commanders assessed the situation.

A successful uprising would be a huge boost for coalition forces which have faced criticism that there is no popular support for the overthrow of Saddam by foreign forces.

Basra is the main centre of Shia-dominated southern Iraq which rose up against Saddam after the 1991 Gulf War, only to be brutally put down by the Iraqi dictator when the Americans failed to provide support.

The Iraqi regime has denied claims of a revolt in Basra and Arab TV stations today showed pictures of what was said to be a calm city.

But Britain's Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said today: “Certainly there have been disturbances, local people rising up against the regime.

“We know that there have been attempts by regime militia to attack those same people, their own people, to attack them with mortars, machine-gun fire, rifles and so on.

“We haven’t witnessed it but we know that that is happening from various sources.”

To the north, Baghdad came under renewed attack early today, with the Pentagon saying coalition aircraft and Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from US Navy ships had struck Iraq’s television station.

More than 20 explosions were heard to the south of the capital, where Saddam’s elite Republican Guard are thought to be guarding routes into the city.

Pentagon officials said last night that US Army forces killed between 150 and 500 Iraqi troops in a fierce fight after elements of the 7th Cavalry Regiment came under attack near the central Iraqi city of Najaf.

The US Army’s 3rd Infantry Division has advanced to within about 50 miles of Baghdad, with the Medina armoured division of Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard in its path.

Elements of the 1st Marine Division are approaching the capital from a more easterly direction, and some analysts believe the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, now in southern Iraq, will join the battle for Baghdad, possibly with the support of British Paratroops.

The reports of 150 to 500 Iraqi casualties appeared to be in addition to the 500 Iraqi fighters killed in the last two days by the US 3rd Infantry Division’s tanks and mechanised units as they swept through the south of the country.

No US casualties have so far been reported.