Iraqi column in suicidal dash

By JOHN CHALMERS and AGENCIES

AS SAYLIYA CAMP - US-led forces have destroyed much of a column of Iraqi tanks and armoured vehicles that tried to move south from Iraq's second city of Basra overnight, says a British military official.

The official, speaking at US Central Command forward headquarters in Qatar, said initial reports of the battle indicated that "a lot of the column was repelled and destroyed".

The armoured column of between 70 and 120 vehicles left the southeast of Basra on Wednesday and was moving down the Al Faw peninsula when it was engaged by US and British warplanes and artillery, officials said.

It was unclear why the column quit Basra towards a British force when US-led air forces have control of the skies. "If they're fleeing they're going the wrong way. It's pretty silly to go towards the Royal Marines," said a British military official.

A television reporter with British Marines south of Basra said the battle raged through the night.

"Many tanks have been destroyed, many are on fire now," Clive Myrie reported. "Every now and again the area here shakes with the thud of missiles and bombs going into that column."

He said the pullout of the column seemed "suicidal". Defence analyst Andrew Dorman said on Sky TV: "They're either panicking ... or they're taking advantage of the conditions [sandstorms] to engage the coalition forces and offset their technological advantage."

Al-Jazeera television said yesterday there were intensive air raids on Basra, including on nearby Abu al Khasib.

The Arabic language satellite channel showed pictures of at least four civilians, including a woman who was wailing in pain and a small boy, who it said had been injured in Basra.

Myrie said there had been initial confusion over whether the convoy was a counter-offensive or a retreat from a reported uprising against President Saddam Hussein in Basra, a Shi'ite stronghold and the fabled birthplace of Sinbad the sailor.

Unrest rippled in Basra on Wednesday but it was unclear how serious or widespread the opposition was to the ruling Baath Party. Basra was the scene of a failed Shi'ite uprising against Saddam's Sunni-dominated Government after the 1991 Gulf War.

On Tuesday, a British naval commander said his forces south of Basra had blocked an attempted breakout by up to 50 Iraqi tanks seeking to press southward from the edge of the city.

The United Nations has expressed alarm at the humanitarian situation in Basra, where British forces who have taken responsibility to allow US forces to press on towards Baghdad have encountered sustained resistance.

Iraqi civilians were reported to be emerging from Basra yesterday to pass critical intelligence to British-led forces to aid attacks against Saddam's forces within their own city.

British intelligence officers said there had been a steady stream of information coming from the population in Basra, about the movements and activities of paramilitaries loyal to Saddam.

That information was proving crucial in identifying targets for British and American attack aircraft on bombing missions over the city.

"We are receiving a lot of information from inside the city," said one British officer. "Most of it is coming from Iraqis fed up with the regime and who are sneaking out across the bridges to tell us what is going on in the city.

"It is very risky but the fact that so many are prepared to do this indicates the level of opposition to Saddam within Basra."

Several leading Baath Party officials in Basra are believed to have been assassinated in recent days. British officials declined to say who had carried out the killings, or who the victims were, but confirmed privately that they had happened.

Reports from frightened residents inside the city suggested that Saddam's men have made extensive preparations for a last stand in Basra designed to drag British troops into a costly and drawn-out battle.

Herald Feature: Iraq