British stay in base as Shia attacks grow in Iraq

[nhboy (Premo)]

"BRITISH forces remained firmly out of the fray yesterday as fierce clashes with Shia militias in Basra raged for a second day.
Forty people were confirmed dead in the city and 200 wounded after Iraqi security forces launched a major operation to suppress militant groups vying for control.

But with the epicentre of the fighting just a few miles from where the bulk of the UK's remaining 4,100 troops in southern Iraq are garrisoned, British commanders insisted it was "highly unlikely" they would get directly involved.

Recently retired US general, Jack Keane, a leading supporter of the American "surge" in Iraq, yesterday urged Britain to increase its troop strength vastly ,instead of cutting it.

Britain hopes to cut troop numbers from 4,000 to 2,500.

But Major Tom Holloway, the UK military spokesman in Iraq, said: "The Iraqi authorities have planned and are executing the operation. It is very much their business." The British role was to support them after handing provincial control to the Iraqis in December 2007, he said."

British stay in base as Shia attacks grow across Iraq - Scotsman.com News