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Iraqis venture out basra for water { March 27 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2457399 http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2457399 Iraqis Venture Out of Basra in Search of Water Thu March 27, 2003 04:19 AM ET BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Tired and thirsty Iraqi civilians trudged out of the southern city of Basra on Thursday, seeking water, news of friends and shelter from sporadic fighting. Reuters correspondent David Fox, at a bridge over the Euphrates river just south of Iraq's second biggest city, said a far smaller number of Iraqis were heading into Basra, concerned for family and friends after reported air raids in recent days. "There's a steady trickle of people leaving town on foot," said Fox. "They're not carrying belongings, just heading out to see family and relatives mostly in (the nearby town of) Zubayr." He said one British military official told him around 3,000 Iraqis, predominantly men, had crossed the bridge out of Basra between 6 and 10 a.m. "Every one of them asked for water," Fox said of Iraqis he spoke to, who looked parched and carried empty water bottles. The United Nations and international aid agencies have expressed alarm at a humanitarian crisis in Basra, which has been short of water and cut off from electricity for days. Red Cross officials said on Thursday they had partially restored water. Fox said those leaving were not reporting fierce fighting and there was no talk of a popular uprising in the city, the scene of a failed Shi'ite revolt against President Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated government after the 1991 Gulf War. Weather in southern Iraq deteriorated on Thursday, with cold winds whipping up sand and dust storms. Earlier, U.S.-led forces destroyed much of a column of Iraqi tanks and armor trying to move south from Basra overnight, the commander of British forces in the Gulf said. Air Marshal Brian Burridge said U.S. and British warplanes and artillery attacked an armored column of up to 120 vehicles. "A lot of the column was repelled and destroyed," he said. He said Iraqi militia loyal to Saddam had gone through Basra rounding up soldiers and putting them in tanks to head south.

Agencies rush water { March 25 2003 } Aljazeera denies basra uprising lie Battle for basra { March 25 2003 } Iraqis venture out basra for water { March 27 2003 } Tv radio blacked out basra { March 27 2003 } Files Listed: 5

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