Fierce clashes break out in Basra
Written: 25th March, 2008
Heavy fighting has erupted in Iraq's southern city of Basra amid a major pre-dawn offensive by Iraqi security forces against rival Shia militias.
Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki is in Basra overseeing the operation, a day after he vowed to "re-impose law" in the oil-rich city, the UK military said.
Eyewitnesses speak of plumes of smoke, explosions, tanks and artillery.
The British military, which returned control of Basra to the Iraqis in December, said it was not involved.
A spokesman for UK forces, now based only at Basra airport, said the operation was being directed entirely by Iraqi troops and that Mr Maliki was overseeing it from a military base at an undisclosed location in the city.
Source BBC news