US drop 500kg J-Dam bomb on Basra

The Guardian, [25 March 2003]

A US warplane has dropped a 500kg satellite-guided J-Dam bomb on a civilian building in Basra, British officers as British forces make a big push or the city, using heavy artillery

Top British military officials Tuesday said they now regarded the southern Iraqi city of Basra a military target, as a sandstorm delayed the US march on Baghdad.

Our forces now surround Basra and we are obviously assessing the situation before we commence operations to take out the non-regular militia, said Group Capt. Al Lockwood, a spokesman for British forces in the Gulf, the U.K. Press Association reported.

The city of 1.3 million people has lost electricity and water supplies and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned of a humanitarian crisis. The coalition had wanted to negotiate surrenders with Iraqi troops rather than move into the city, citing humanitarian concerns.

Earlier, heavy fighting raged on the outskirts of Basra, with British forces firing across the Shatt al-Basra waterway at Iraqi armour on the other side.

Two Iraqi T55 tanks were destroyed during the engagements, spearheaded by Challenger tanks from Britain’s Desert Rats, the 7th Armoured Brigade.

The British army is reported to have three brigades to the south and west of Basra, where an estimated 1,000 so-called Iraqi irregulars were resisting the coalition advance.