Just Overheard

Basra’s Shia-majority population, aided by British artillery, is in revolt against their governement.

Link when I find it.

UPDATE: The BBC has the story.

British troops are firing in support of what they believe is a civilian uprising in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, it is reported.
Artillery fire was being used to knock out loyalist Iraqi mortar positions which were attacking civilians, ITV news reported, quoting intelligence officers with the Scots Dragoon Guards.

The size of the insurrection is currently unknown, said ITV reporter Richard Gaisford. Loud explosions have been heard coming from the city.

There has been confusion over whether many civilians in Basra and the Shia south welcome the arrival of coalition forces, but still fear pro-Saddam troops and agents.

It appears that at least some of Basra’s people now believe we’ve come to finish the job we started in 1991, after twelve years of broken promises. They’re right. And they’re to be commended for taking less than a week to dispell a dozen years of disappointment, oppression, and death.