British troops freed in jailbreak

[underdog]

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/09/19/iraq.main/

 

Tuesday, September 20, 2005 Posted: 0256 GMT (1056 HKT)

 

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A British armored vehicle escorted by a tank crashed into a detention center Monday in Basra and rescued two undercover troops held by police, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official told CNN.

 

British Defense Ministry Secretary John Reid confirmed two British military personnel were "released," but he gave no details on how they were freed.

 

In a statement released in London, Reid did not say why the two had been taken into custody. But the Iraqi official, who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity, said their arrests stemmed from an incident earlier in the day.

 

The official said two unknown gunmen in full Arabic dress began firing on civilians in central Basra, wounding several, including a traffic police officer. There were no fatalities, the official said.

 

The two gunmen fled the scene but were captured and taken in for questioning, admitting they were British marines carrying out a "special security task," the official said.

 

British troops launched the rescue about three hours after Iraqi authorities informed British commanders the men were being held at the police department's major crime unit, the official said.

 

Iraqi police said members of Iraq's Mehdi Army militia engaged the British forces around the facility, burning one personnel carrier and an armored vehicle.

 

Video showed dozens of Iraqis surrounding British armored vehicles and tossing gasoline bombs, rocks and other debris at them.

 

With one vehicle engulfed in flames, a soldier opened the hatch and bailed out as rocks were thrown at him. Another photograph showed a British soldier on fire on top of a tank.

 

"Many of those present were clearly prepared well in advance to cause trouble, and we believe that the majority of Iraq people would deplore this violence," Reid said.

 

Reid said both troops were "being treated for minor injuries only and are expected to return to duty shortly."

 

He said British forces "remain committed to helping the Iraqi government for as long as they judge that a coalition presence is necessary to provide security.

 

"The situation in Basra is currently calmer after a day of disturbances. At this stage, it is not possible to be certain why these disturbances began," he said.

[Faarax-Brawn]

^UDawg, This topic was posted on the same day that crap happened. Didnt generate much responces.

 

It was here,where co incidentally it didnt generate any Fire!

 

Thanks tho :cool:

[underdog]

My bad....didn't know it had been previously posted.

 

These articles generally don't generate a lot of response because a lot of people are in the state of mind that "Its sad but since I can't do anything about it, I'll just ignore it."

 

*Capitalized & Consumerized...Its an absolute shame.

[Legend of Zu]

^^^ UD..I think it would have generated responses if you had initiated a thesis for discussion. I can only gues majority reading it it and assuming that you posted it as FYI rather than a topic to discuss.

 

Some Conspiracy Theory websites claimed that "these soldiers were tryin to bomb shi'a areas and blame on the insurgents" while some claim that they were spies planning to infiltrate the insurgents but the plan has backfired when their identity was compromised.

 

Cheers