COURAGEOUS TOWNSPEOPLE KILLED POODLE STORMTROOPERS!

Please note that 2 articles follow:

*Townspeople killed soldiers, says report
*Locals say Iraqi civilians killed UK soldiers


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(1)

Townspeople killed soldiers, says report
Irish Examiner
June 25, 2003
 http://breaking.examiner.ie/2003/06/25/story103789.html

Iraqi townspeople furious over civilian deaths during a demonstration in Majar Al-Kabir chased down and killed six British military police, local officers said today.

Abbas Faddhel, an Iraqi policeman in the southern town, said the British troops shot dead four civilian protesters yesterday.

Armed civilians then killed two of the British soldiers at the scene of the demonstration – in front of the mayor’s office – then chased four others to a police station where they killed them after a two hour gun battle, he said.

 http://breaking.examiner.ie/2003/06/25/story103789.html


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(2)

Locals say Iraqi civilians killed UK soldiers
By Michael Georgy
Reuters
June 25, 2003
 http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=324329

MAJJAR, Iraq (Reuters) - Six British soldiers killed yesterday were shot dead by Iraqi civilians angry at intrusive searches for weapons in a conservative Shi'ite Muslim town in southern Iraq, residents have said.

The Ministry of Defence said six soldiers were killed and eight wounded in two separate incidents on Tuesday near the city of Amarah, some 200 km (120 miles) north of Iraq's British- controlled second city, Basra.

Witnesses in the town of Majjar, 30 km (18 miles) south of Amarah, said the six were killed by residents after days of tension because of methods a British force used to search for heavy weapons.

At least two Iraqis died in Tuesday's clash at Majjar, residents said, adding that the British opened fire with plastic bullets to control a crowd after days of tension.

There was no immediate comment from the British military on the report.

"These British soldiers came with their dogs and pointed weapons at women and children. As Muslims, we can't accept dogs at our homes," Rabee al-Malki told Reuters.

Residents said the soldiers first came to the town to search for weapons on June 21. They burst into houses with dogs sniffing for weapons and with guns pointing at women and children.

After complaints from locals the British force agreed to halt the intrusive inspections, but two days later they returned with the same attitude, the residents said.

The Iraqis asked to stop the searches and promised to hand over weapons within two months, they said.

When the soldiers returned on Tuesday, thousands took to the streets to protest.

PLASTIC BULLETS

"I yelled at them because they pointed their rifles at a child. I told them 'don't do that' but a soldier hit me with the butt of his rifle in the face," one resident, who refused to give his name, said. "Then the shooting started."

The British forces opened fire with plastic bullets to control the crowd. Iraqis, believing the British were firing live bullets, fired from their AK-47s, killing the soldiers.

Residents said at least two Iraqis were also killed.

"A British soldier held the underwear of a woman and stretched it. How can we accept this as Muslims and as Shi'ites," Faleh Saleem said.

The casualties were the worst suffered by British forces in a single "hostile fire" incident since the war to oust Saddam Hussein erupted on March 20.

The British forces who control the mainly Shi'ite south have had few problems since Saddam was ousted, unlike U.S. troops in mainly Sunni central Iraq. Shi'ites expressed joy at the ousting of Saddam, a Sunni, who oppressed them for two decades.

Residents said they would not accept a British presence in their town any more.

"We will do the same if the British come back. We will not allow them to come back," Abu Faten.

 http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=324329