Operation Sinbad: British, Iraq troops begin Basra mission

Pictured: aftermath of a car bomb in Basra marketplace. Basra is Iraq's second largest city, and its only port.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- British and Iraqi troops set out Wednesday on an ambitious mission to pacify the southern city of Basra, root out its corrupt police and help the residents rebuild.

Some 2,300 Iraqi army troops and 1,000 British soldiers are taking part in "Operation Sinbad," with another 2,000 British troops deployed in the surrounding area, said British forces spokesman Maj. Charlie Burbridge.

The troops swept into a southeastern section of the city, Iraq's second-largest, at about 5:30 a.m. Eventually they will move through the entire city in an operation expected to take months, Burbridge said in a telephone interview from southern Iraq.

"We're gradually inching our way forward. Ultimately our aim here is to take Basra to a place where it can be turned over to Iraqi control," he said.

In June, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declared a state of emergency in Basra following a rise in violence among mostly Shiite groups competing for power. Basra is 340 miles southeast of the capital, about 30 from the Iranian border.

Since January 2005, the city has fallen under the influence of Shiite militias, which have infiltrated police and government institutions there.

A big part of the operation is to crack down on police corruption, and a special team will be going station by station to weed out those involved, Burbridge said.

"We know where the problems are," he said.

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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