Iraq troops 'fire on civilian uprising' in Basra

Iraqi forces have fired on a popular uprising by civilians in Basra, it was reported tonight.

Mortars have been fired at citizens in Iraq's second city rebelling against the Iraqi regime, reporters said, quoting intelligence officers with the Scots Dragoon Guards.

Reporter Richard Gaisford said intelligence from the city suggested that local people had indicated they would like to welcome the Allied forces but were in fear of Saddam loyalists.

"Now it seems they have had the courage to stand up to Saddam Hussein and his regime and they will be supported by British forces," Gaisford said.

He said British forces were firing on the Iraqi mortar positions being used to try and crush the rebellion, but were not firing on the city centre. There were also reports of a major explosion at the Ba'ath Party headquarters in Basra.

Other developments on Day 6 of the war: British forces snatched a senior Baath party figure in a daring raid and decided to move against 'military targets' in Basra after a major tank battle; it was announced that a second British soldier has been killed in action; about 500 Iraqis have been killed in fighting, says a US commander; fears were reported that chemical weapons may be used in the defence of Baghdad; the port of Umm Qasr was declared "safe and open".

Night-time raid: About 20 of Saddam Hussein's henchmen were killed and a key party official captured in a daring night-time raid by British forces in southern Iraq, it emerged today.

They raided a regional Ba'ath Party headquarters in Al Zubayr, near Basra, where there has been fierce resistance from Iraqi soldiers.

They moved in with the aim of capturing the high-ranking party figure. He was guarded by members of Saddam's Special Security Organisation and fanatical Fedayeen fighters loyal to the Iraqi president.

The Desert Rats surrounded the building with Challenger 2 tanks before the lightning raid. As the British soldiers swooped, a fierce gunfight broke out and dozens of Iraqis were hit. There were no British casualties.

Basra: The decision to declare parts of the city "military targets" came after the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned of a humanitarian crisis there and said "urgent measures" had to be taken to restore electricity and water.

British forces have surrounded the city of 1.3 million people and secured its airport but have continued to face pockets of fighters loyal to Saddam Hussein, including his elite Fedayeen paramilitary force. Eleven targets around Basra - a mixture of tanks, artillery and mortars - were struck by artillery, said a British military source in Qatar.

Group Capt. Al Lockwood, spokesman for British forces in the Persian Gulf, said: "We need to secure the city for the inhabitants and to ensure that their basic necessities in life are taken care of, and obviously that the necessary humanitarian aid, medical facilities are restored as quickly as possible."

A British military spokesman had said Basra itself was a military target, but later said only parts of the city – regime and military infrastructure – were now so designated.

Second UK victim: A British soldier was killed in action near Al Zubayr in southern Iraq last night, military sources said. The soldier, from the 1st Battalion The Black Watch, was the second British combat fatality. Sixteen others have died in accidents and two British soldiers are still missing after their Land Rover was ambushed on Sunday, also in Al Zubayr.

Also in Al Zubayr, British forces captured a member of Saddam Hussein's ruling Baath Party in a raid last night by members of the 7th Armoured Brigade.

Coalition military chiefs want to separate political and military leaders of the regime.

Iraqi victims: About 500 Iraqis have been killed in the last two days by US Army infantry tanks and mechanised units as they swept through southern Iraq, a US commander said today.

Command Sgt. Maj. Kenneth Preston of V Corps, who oversees the 3rd Infantry Division, said US forces ran into "a lot" of Iraqi tanks and anti–aircraft weaponry and "thousands and thousands" of weapons around the city of Najaf.

'This could have been very ugly, but they're not very motivated," Preston said of the regular Iraqi army recruits. "I think a lot of them wanted to go home."

Humanitarian operations: Umm Qasr, the southern port town where coalition forces have been tackling Iraqi resistance since the first day of the was, was today reported to be "safe and open". Mines also had to be cleared from the sea routes.

Following sweeps by Royal Marine commandos, the commander of the British Royal Marines' 3rd Commando Brigade said that he hoped the first aid ship would arrive within days.

Chemical fears: US officials have warned that Iraq may be preparing to use chemical weapons on allied troops as they advance on Baghdad.

The reports were aired on US television and based on comments by unnamed military officials. They stated that a 'red line' had been drawn around the Iraqi capital by Iraqi command. The reports, understood to be based on intercepted Iraqi communications, intimate that Republican Guard forces would employ chemical weapons once US and British forces crossed that line.

Opposition warning: The leader of the biggest Iraqi opposition group said Iraqis would fight any US domination after Saddam Hussein is toppled. Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, leader of the Tehran-based Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said: "Coalition forces are welcome in Iraq as long as they help the Iraqi people get rid of Saddam's dictatorship, but Iraqis will resist if they (coalition forces) seek to occupy or colonize our country."