DAILY WAR NEWS FOR SATURDAY, May 6, 2006

"Photo: TV grab from Sky News shows a British soldier standing in front of British Warrior armoured fighting vehicles set on fire following the crash of a British helicopter in central Basra. At least two British servicemen were killed when their helicopter crashed into the centre of Iraq's second city of Basra.(AFP/SkyNews)

British military helicopter crashes in Basra, and Iraqis hurl stones at British troops and set fire to three armored vehicles that rush to the scene. Clashes broke out between British troops and Shiite militias, police and witnesses said.

British forces backed by armored vehicles rushed to the area but were met by a hail of stones from the crowd of at least 250 people, who jumped for joy and raised their fists as a plume of thick smoke rose into the air from the crash site.

The crowd set three British armored vehicles on fire, apparently with gasoline bombs and a rocket-propelled grenade, but the soldiers inside escaped unhurt, witnesses said.

British troops shot into the air trying to disperse the crowd, then shooting broke out between the British and Iraqi militiamen, Khazim said. At least four people, including a child, were killed, he said. Two of the victims were adults shot by British troops while driving a car in the area, Khazim said.

The crowd chanted "we are all soldiers of al-Sayed," a reference to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, an ardent foe of the presence of foreign troops in Iraq."
Iraq Today