Soldiers battle to bring calm to Basra
A former Gurkha working for a security company was shot dead in an ambush in the southern Iraqi city of Basra yesterday, as anger over fuel shortages intensified.
The former Nepalese soldier was on his rounds, delivering mail to a United Nations building, when three men aiming to stop his vehicle fired three shots, a spokesman for the military reported.
Sunday witnessed a second day of riots and saw British forces in Iraq kill at least one local demonstrator, injuring eight others, during a street battle between troops and fuel protesters in central Basra.
Protesters attacked vehicles and burnt tyres in the stifling summer heat, recorded in some places at temperatures in excess of 120 Fahrenheit.
It is reported that British troops came under fire during one incident in Basra. Disgruntled locals have taken to the streets in protest of the US-backed coalition’s failure to get electricity and fuel supplies up and running.
On Saturday, an estimated 2,000 people threw stones at British troops, who retaliated by firing rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. A grenade was thrown at a British military truck near a filling station. Seven soldiers and at least four Iraqi civilians were hurt in the skirmish.
56 soldiers have been killed in attacks and at least 60 US troops have died in non-combat situations since US President George Bush declared the war effectively over on May 1.
