[Vision2020] Iraqi troops shoot at fleeing civilians

[John Harrell]

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Iraqi troops shoot at fleeing civilians

By Sudarsan Raghavan
Knight Ridder Newspapers

http://www.recordnet.com/daily/news/articles/033103-gn-1.php
Published Monday, March 31, 2003

  AZ ZUBAYR BRIDGE, Iraq -- Iraqi troops fired machine guns and artillery shells at several hundred families fleeing Basra on Sunday, triggering a shootout with British
soldiers that pinned down terrified refugees in the cross-fire. 

Mothers in black Islamic garments clutched crying babies to their chests. Young men tightly held the hands of their grandmothers. And an old,
sun-weathered man with a cane briefly looked to the heavens and yelled, ''Allah. God help me.'' 

British forces on the outskirts of Basra are facing an Iraqi guerrilla campaign that is dragging them into an urban, low-tech war -- where civilians
are human shields and the enemy is not easily distinguishable. It's similar to what coalition forces could face in Baghdad, British commanders
said. 



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<P>Iraqi troops shoot at fleeing civilians</P>
<P>By Sudarsan Raghavan<BR>Knight Ridder Newspapers</P>
<P><A href="http://www.recordnet.com/daily/news/articles/033103-gn-1.php">http://www.recordnet.com/daily/news/articles/033103-gn-1.php</A><BR>Published Monday, March 31, 2003</P>
<P>&nbsp; AZ ZUBAYR BRIDGE, Iraq -- Iraqi troops fired machine guns and artillery shells at several hundred families fleeing Basra on Sunday, triggering a shootout with British<BR>soldiers that pinned down terrified refugees in the cross-fire. </P>
<P>Mothers in black Islamic garments clutched crying babies to their chests. Young men tightly held the hands of their grandmothers. And an old,<BR>sun-weathered man with a cane briefly looked to the heavens and yelled, ''Allah. God help me.'' </P>
<P>British forces on the outskirts of Basra are facing an Iraqi guerrilla campaign that is dragging them into an urban, low-tech war -- where civilians<BR>are human shields and the enemy is not easily distinguishable. It's similar to what coalition forces could face in Baghdad, British commanders<BR>said. </P><p><br><hr size=1>Do you Yahoo!?<br>
<a href="http://rd.yahoo.com/platinum/evt=8162/*http://platinum.yahoo.com/splash.html">Yahoo! Platinum</a> - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, <a href="http://rd.yahoo.com/platinum/evt=8162/*http://platinum.yahoo.com/splash.html">live on your desktop</a>!
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