Heavy fighting erupts in Basra

by Dave Keating | March 25, 2008 at 03:19 am | 315 views | 1 comment

The US military death toll in Iraq has passed another milestone. 4,000 US troops have now been killed in the conflict.

Heavy fighting erupted in Iraq's southern oil hub of Basra on Tuesday, and a military official said a major operation had been launched against armed groups in the city.

Rival factions from Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim majority and criminal gangs have been competing for control of Basra.

A Reuters witness said he could see columns of black smoke and hear the sound of explosions and machinegun fire in Iraq's second city and gateway to the Gulf.

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Rachel Nixon

at 11:30 on March 25th, 2008

news wanted:

I think this is an important story and would benefit from other NowPublic contributors working on it. I've flagged it as News Wanted and invite others in relevant locations to look for more evidence.