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Electricity Restored in Parts of Basra

Posted on: Monday, 11 August 2003, 06:00 CDT

British troops restored badly needed electricity to parts of Basra and supervised distribution of gasoline Monday after two days of protests over fuel and power shortages. A U.S. soldier was killed and two were wounded in a bomb attack in central Iraq.

The soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division came under attack with a homemade bomb in front of the police station they were guarding in Baqouba, 45 miles north of Baghdad, late Sunday, Maj. Mark Solomons said.

The death brought to 57 the number of U.S. troops killed in action since May 1, when President Bush declared major combat over.

Also Monday, U.S. soldiers raided a village near the Iranian border in eastern Iraq where American forces believed one of Iraq's top fugitives was plotting guerrilla attacks on U.S. troops. They failed to find their main target, a former regime member who is on the U.S. list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis and who has gained a growing importance as the coalition thins the ranks of Saddam Hussein's inner circle, said Lt. Col. Mark Young. He would not name the target.

"Even if we didn't get the guy it shows there is nowhere that the coalition can't go and for these guys can find sanctuary," Young said as soldiers searched homes and vehicles.

About 70 men were detained in the raid on the village of Ain Lalin, about 60 miles northeast of Baghdad, and some were still being questioned late Monday, 4th Infantry spokeswoman Maj. Josslyn Aberle said. Soldiers also found five arms caches.

The 67th Armored Regiment's 3rd Battalion sealed off the village during the pre-dawn raid, dubbed Operation Cliffhanger.

In Basra, a British patrol returned fire after it came under attack late Sunday, wounding two assailants, British military spokesman Capt. Hisham Halawi said. Two others escaped. There were no British casualties.

Basra had been one of the quietest cities in Iraq. But on the second day of protests Sunday, an Iraqi protester and a Nepalese security guard were shot dead.

The protester was killed after an angry crowd tried to block four four-wheel drive vehicles crossing the main bridge leading to the airport and the British military headquarters. It was not clear who shot the demonstrator.

The guard worked for Global Security, a company hired to provide security and other services for coalition bases in Iraq. He was shot by an assailant as a two-car convoy neared an intersection in the center of the city, coalition spokesman Iain Pickard said.

British troops patrolling the area gave away their own fuel to calm demonstrators, coalition spokesman Charles Heatly said from Baghdad.

Over the weekend, about 1,000 protesters blocked roads with rows of burning tires and threw rocks at vehicles and British troops, who suffered only minor injuries, Halawi said.

"The town is calm this morning. People have had power since last night, and petrol is getting at petrol stations," he said.

Heatly said coalition forces were taking steps to alleviate the power and fuel crisis in Basra. The coalition also brought in two new gas turbine generators to try to patch up the antiquated electricity system.

Late Sunday, two grenades were hurled under a truck taking supplies to the British office in central Baghdad, the U.S.-led coalition reported. The explosion, near the British office, wounded the Syrian driver.

U.S. military spokesman Col. Guy Shields said there was no indication the British office was the target.

U.S. military officials have blamed almost daily attacks on Saddam loyalists and Iraqis angered by a foreign occupation. There is growing concern that foreign fighters in Iraq may join the conflict, conducting terrorist attacks like a bombing on the Jordanian Embassy on Aug. 7 that killed 19.

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