British, Danish troops seize Iraqi militants

8 December 2006



BAGHDAD - More than 1,000 British and Danish troops stormed a suburb of the Iraq city of Basra on Friday and arrested five militia leaders accused of carrying out attacks on the forces, a spokesman said.


“This is the biggest operation of this nature we’ve done out here since 2003,” said Major Charlie Burbridge. “There were no casualties or fatalities on our side and no evidence whether or not we killed anyone in the process.”

Coalition infantry struck into the Al Hartha district of northern Basra at 3:00 am (0000 GMT) while tanks rolled into the area from the south over a bridge and an amphibious assault team crossed the Shatt Al Arab waterway on boats.

The force came under fire from assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades and responded while still raiding five targeted addresses, and arrested “five leaders of rogue elements of militias operating in Basra,” Burbridge said.

more:http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2006/December/focusoniraq_December45.xml§ion=focusoniraq

Iraqi soldiers patrol Iraq's second largest city Basra, Iraq, Friday Dec. 8, 2006. Iraqi troops patrolled Basra for the first time Friday with the U.S.-supplied Humvees. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)


Was this before, after or during the raid? :shrug: