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Huge increase in number of attacks on UK troops in Iraq this year: official

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, May 23, IRNA
UK-Troops-Iraq attacks
The number of attacks of British troops deployed in southern Iraq have almost trebled in the first four months of the current year, Defence Secretary Des Browne has revealed.

In a written reply to parliament published Tuesday, he said attacks on multinational forces controlled by Britain in the four provinces of Basra, al-Muthanna, Dhiqar and Meysan have grown from 36 in January to 103 in April.

Provisional figures were also quoted for part of May, so far recording 32 attacks, but it was not specified up to what period the number related to.

By far the biggest number of attacks was in Basra province, increasing from 21 in January to 71 in April. The second highest was in Meysan, rising from 8 to 23 attacks in the first four months.

In Dhiqar province, the number increased from two to five, while in al Mutahanna a slight fall was recorded from five to four.

Browne also disclosed in a separate parliamentary reply that British troops on average conduct a total of "some 120 to 140 patrols by road vehicle per day" in southern Iraq.

But he refused to reply to a question on what the daily operational ability of armored vehicles deployed by UK forces was, saying that the government did not release military capabilities for reasons of security.

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