• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

Iraq rocket attack on Basra base kills two

BAGHDAD
Thu May 8, 2008 4:55pm EDT

Factbox

Related News

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Militants fired rockets into a British forces base in Iraq's southern oil town of Basra on Thursday, killing two contractors and wounding four other civilians, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

World

It said British forces had returned fire and U.S. forces killed six militants behind the attack in an air strike. The statement did not give the nationalities of the contractors.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on militiamen in Basra at the end of March, mostly targeting fighters loyal to anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

After a bungled beginning to the campaign in which Sadr's Mehdi Army fought back and scores of civilians were killed, Iraqi forces have successfully wrested control of most the city. Basra's formerly lawless streets are now largely quiet.

"This was the first indirect fire (rocket) attack causing casualties in Basra since March 27," the statement said.

Maliki, a Shi'ite, has turned his attention to Sadrist militants in Baghdad, particularly in the cleric's stronghold of Sadr City, where U.S. and Iraqi forces have been fighting daily street battles in the crowded slum of 2 million.

(Reporting by Tim Cocks; Editing by Janet Lawrence)



More from Reuters

Photo

Obama blames "systemic failures" in U.S. security

KANEOHE, Hawaii (Reuters) - President Barack Obama Tuesday blamed a combination of "human and systemic failures" for allowing the botched Christmas Day attack aboard a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner, in his first big test on homeland security. | Video

Leaves gather in front of an empty and boarded-up house in Youngstown, Ohio November 21, 2009.    REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Castles built on sand

Rust-belt American cities like Youngstown, Ohio were battered by the downturn. Now they're ready to move on, but it won’t be easy. The first in a three-part report.  Full Article 

REUTERS/James Saft

Welcome to the "Teenies"

Shrinking financial sector? Paltry investment returns? Welcome to the the next decade. Don't worry, there's some good news, too.  Commentary