British troops 'killed Iraqi colonel'

British military officials say their commandos killed an Iraqi colonel during a battle today with Iraqi paramilitary forces in the south-east corner of Basra. Five Iraqi fighters were taken prisoner.

Group Capt. Al Lockwood, spokesman for British forces in the Gulf, said the Republican Guard officer was believed to have been sent to the southern city to "try and strengthen the resolve among the Baath Party militia and the paramilitaries that are operating in the area".

British forces have surrounded much of Basra but have also been staging, what Lockwood called, "aggressive patrolling" in the city itself.

"I can confirm that we have captured an Iraqi general officer," he said. "At this stage it's unknown exactly which arm of the Iraqi armed forces he is from, but we are hoping that this will lead us to get information that will assist us with our operations."

Infantry units have made forays into Basra to locate paramilitary targets, take prisoners and clear parts of the port city of 1.3 million people, he said.

Coalition commanders have avoided an all-out siege of Iraq's second-largest city, where most of the residents are Shiite Muslims, and not friendly to Saddam's predominantly Sunni regime.

On Friday, British military officials and witnesses reported that paramilitary, or Fedayeen, forces fired mortars and machine guns on about 2,000 Iraqi civilians trying to leave Basra. Bridges held by the coalition along the Euphrates have remained open, and citizens have been leaving daily to get food aid from points outside the city and then returning.

South of Baghdad, US and British warplanes targeted Iraqi fuel storage depots in bombing raids today near Karbala.

Wing Commander Andy Suddards, who led a British Harrier raid on one of the depots, said one goal was to cut the fuel supply chain for Republican Guard tanks.

"The visibility was good and I saw the bang," he said. "If the tanks have no fuel, it is all going to help."

In the north, Kurdish militiamen opposed to Saddam moved on two fronts, joining US special forces in an attack on Islamic militants and advancing unopposed toward the government-held city of Kirkuk and its oil fields.

Machine-gun fire and bombardment were reported near positions of Ansar al-Islam extremists, who are alleged to have ties to al-Qaida.