Anger in Basra over British raid on jail

Basra police officers walk past the rubble of a police station destroyed in yesterday's raid.

Local leaders in Basra spoke out today against the British-led operation that destroyed a police station considered to be the home of a rogue unit’s torture HQ.

Under cover of darkness, 1,000 British soldiers, accompanied by Iraqis, stormed the police station on Christmas Day, killing seven gunmen and flattening the stone-built compound of Basra police's feared Serious Crimes Unit in a spectacular controlled explosion.

But members of the Basra provincial council said today that they opposed the operation and believed that the destruction of the station was uncalled for.

"We object to the way the operation was conducted...there was no need to bring in such a huge number of forces and break down the station," Hakim al-Maiyahi, a council member, told the Associated Press.

Major Charlie Burbridge, a British military spokesman, acknowledged the council members’ concerns, but said that British officials had alerted the provincial governor, Mohammed al-Waeli, who approved the operation.

"He told us it was the right thing, the way forward. He supported our activity," Major Burbridge said.

British soldiers are on alert for reprisals today. "We fully expect more attacks on our bases and on Basra stations, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary," Major Burbridge said.

"But this is part of a long-term rehabilitation of the Iraqi police service, to make it more effective and more accountable, and ultimately provide better security for the people of Basra," he said.

Yesterday's operation, one of the biggest since the 2003 invasion, was the latest stage of a drive to stamp out renegade Shia Muslim militia elements believed to have infiltrated police operating from the compound.

Read the rest at the Times of London

Related Link:
British Soldiers Storm Basra Jail; 'Major Crimes' Unit accused of death squads, torture