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UK to review Iraq troop presence
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Britain is reviewing its military tactics in Iraq and could send up to 5,000 additional troops after six of its soldiers were shot dead in the south of the country. Details of Tuesday's shooting in which six members of the Royal Military Police were killed at Majar al-Kabir, north of Basra, are still sketchy, and an investigation is under way. But UK Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said "significant forces" are available to go, if needed. "My absolute priority is the safety and security of British forces. Already, an urgent review is under way to ensure their safety," he told the BBC Wednesday. "Depending on the results of that review ... we have significant forces available should it be necessary. Many thousands, certainly." Asked whether up to 5,000 more troops might be sent, Hoon added: "It is certainly not beyond the bounds of possibility." Britain currently has 4,000 soldiers serving in the south of Iraq -- it had deployed 45,000 during the war. British troops have adopted a more casual approach to their U.S. counterparts in the north of the country, wearing flak jackets and berets instead of helmets. CNN's Ben Wedeman reported British troops had resumed wearing them and that levels of military alertness was much higher. Hoon went on to say that while the shootings signaled a "dreadful day," it was "important to recognize that this is not typical, it is not widespread." The six troops' deaths were part of a twin attack on British soldiers in separate incidents near Amarah Tuesday. It is not clear whether the two events are linked. In the second incident, eight British troops were injured -- one in an initial clash while on routine patrol and seven Quick Reaction Force troops when their Chinook helicopter came under fire in an attempted rescue. The events made it the worst single day for the British military since the onset of the Iraq war. Major Bryn Parry-Jones, commanding officer of the 156 Provost Company, said the six deaths came as "a dreadful shock." He added that all six were highly professional soldiers and policemen. Four Iraqis were also killed in the shooting, with a further 15 injured. Locals: Intrusive weapons searchesReuters said locals had resented the way some British troops had carried out house-to-house searches for weapons. Sniffer dogs had been used and women's underwear held up by soldiers, some locals had alleged, causing offence to Muslim tradition. The British military has vowed to hunt down the killers of the soldiers. But an earlier report by The Associated Press which said UK forces in Iraq had given a 48-hour ultimatum to civilian leaders in the town to hand over the gunmen was denied by the British Ministry of Defence Wednesday.
A spokesman, quoting military figures on the ground in Majar al-Kabir, told CNN: "There is nothing in such reports. We do not know where it has come from." AP had said local religious officials had blared the ultimatum from loudspeakers atop cars in the city. Details of the attacks are still unclear. Dr. Adel al-Shawi, director general of the local hospital, told CNN that British troops entered the city Tuesday morning searching for weapons despite an agreement that gave local elders a week to round up heavy weapons. As the crowd of protesters grew larger, more vocal and confrontational, children began throwing rocks at the British patrol. Up to 400 men in the crowd had weapons, British sources said. The soldiers first fired warning shots with rubber bullets, al-Shawi added, before weapons fire came from the crowd. The troops then fired live ammunition into the crowd. The firefight continued as the British patrol retreated to a police station, local police sources said, where four soldiers died. Two others died nearby. Accounts also differed on how the four Iraqis died. AP quoted some locals as saying all four were shot dead by the British soldiers during the demonstration, while the news agency said others claimed two unarmed protesters were killed during the protest and the other two were killed in the gun battle at the police station. After the demonstration, angry townspeople fetched weapons from their homes and converged on the police station, an Iraqi policeman told AP. The station's walls were pocked full with about 150 bullet holes, CNN's Wedeman reported. British military spokesman, Captain Adam Marchant-Wincott, told AP he could not confirm the accounts by Iraqi witnesses.
British troops have not suffered any combat deaths since April 6, and have not experienced any substantial attacks in the mostly Shiite south since the end of the war. In contrast, 19 U.S. troops have been killed in "hostile action" with another 37 dead in what are described as non-hostile incidents, the Pentagon says. Wedeman said the attacks across Iraq were harming the morale of troops, especially the Americans. "Many soldiers are beginning to wonder why they are there given the levels of hostility," he said. "This is not the war that British and U.S. troops were prepared for, and the guerrilla war is now spreading to most of the country." Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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