Chaos in Basra as Brits Kill Four Iraqis.... [View All]

This is very, very bad.....

Iraqis Cheer Crash of British Helicopter

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Police Capt. Mushtaq Khazim said the helicopter was apparently shot down in a residential district. He said the four-member crew was killed, but British officials would say only that there were "casualties."

British forces backed by armored vehicles rushed to the area but were met by a hail of stones from the crowd of at least 250 people, who jumped for joy and raised their fists as a plume of thick smoke rose into the air from the crash site.

The crowd set three British armored vehicles on fire, apparently with gasoline bombs and a rocket-propelled grenade, but the soldiers inside escaped unhurt, witnesses said.

British troops shot into the air trying to disperse the crowd, then shooting broke out between the British and Iraqi militiamen, Khazim said. At least four people, including a child, were killed, he said. Two of the victims were adults shot by British troops while driving a car in the area, Khazim said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060506/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq




An injured Iraqi lies on the ground as others take cover after shooting broke out between British troops and armed militiamen near a helicopter crash site in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Saturday, May 6 , 2006. A British military helicopter crashed in residential area and a crowd of Iraqis cheered and threw stones at British forces who raced to the scene to close off the area. (AP Photo/Nabil Al-Jurani)



British soldiers move to the helicopter crash site in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Saturday May 6, 2006. A British military helicopter crashed in a residential area and a crowd of Iraqis cheered and threw stones at British forces who raced to the scene to close off the area. (AP Photo/Nabil Al-Jurani)



A British armored vehicle burns in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Saturday, May 6, 2006. A British military helicopter crashed in residential area and a crowd of Iraqis cheered and threw stones at British forces who raced to the scene to close off the area. (AP Photo/Nabil Al-Jurani)