Insurgents 'preparing attacks with suicide cyclists'

Insurgents are preparing attacks with suicide cyclists and loading bombs on to donkey carts in a bid to thwart measures which will keep cars off the streets during Iraq’s elections, military sources said today.

British troops controlling southern regions have been warned car bombers are switching their tactics in a bid to target polling stations and voters.

Intelligence officers believe as many as 20 terrorists have been deployed from Iraq’s notorious Sunni Triangle, west of Baghdad, to wreak havoc in the calmer towns and cities in the south.

Patrols deployed throughout Basra province were today instructed to scrutinise all modes of transport ahead of an 8pm curfew, when traffic and people will be cleared from the street.

Tomorrow, when nervous Iraqis will head to polls from 7am, no unauthorised vehicles will be allowed access to roads, and travel between regions is to be stopped.

Soldiers in Az Zubayr were today conducting sweeps through the town, their focus sharpened by news that a group of militants plotting attacks were last night arrested by colleagues in nearby Basra, Iraq’s second city.

Operating alongside Iraqi police tactical support units, 200 Scots Guards raided four houses in the city centre and were met with a bomb blast and gunfire.

An army source in the southern region said: “We have found donkey carts with false floors which could be used to carry bombs and received intelligence that car bombers are attempting to use bicycles to get round the vehicle ban.

“Iraqi soldiers manning checkpoints in towns and cities have been told not to let them pass and our soldiers are also monitoring for bombs which may be hidden in dead dogs and other animals.”

Fears have been raised that some Iraqi police are colluding with terror groups after a consignment of uniforms went missing in Basra.

It is believed the dark blue fatigues could be used by suicide bombers to infiltrate voter centres and detonate devastating explosives.

Captain Jim Hammett, of the 1st Battalion, The Scots Guards, stationed in the Maysan Province, said there were worries across the British controlled sector about police passing on sensitive information and equipment.

“It is a real concern,” he admitted. “There have been reports of insurgents painting their vehicles in the colours of the Iraqi civilian police cars to get through protected areas.

“I know the police chief in my area and he is a good guy, but I have to accept his word that the rest of his men are not being intimidated or are sympathetic to terrorists.”