The mood in Iraq's second city Basra is reported to be tense overnight, following a day of violence in which British troops fired in theair and donned riot gear as Iraqi anger over fueland power shortages boiled over into stone-throwing and torchingof vehicles.
Several British soldiers were slightly injured in in some of the most widespread violence seen in the mostly Shi'ite Muslim south since Saddam Hussein was toppled by U.S.-led forces four months ago.
As night fell in Basra, burning tyres lit the sky andwitnesses said they saw troops shoot and wound an Iraqi gunman.A crowd shouted abuse at foreigners at a hotel.
British military spokesmen, who reported a military vehiclehad been set alight, said calm was returning to the city. Theyhad no information on Iraqi casualties.
Witnesses said soldiers resorted to firing in the air tokeep back a crowd at a petrol station and again when stones werethrown at them in Saad Square. Another witness said the Britishfired rubber bullets at a group, hitting two Iraqis.
Crowds threw stones at soldiers guarding the main Britishheadquarters and blocked several streets in the city withbarricades of smoking tyres, witnesses said. Troops rescued thedrivers of a Kuwaiti fuel tanker set ablaze.
As temperatures soar above 50 Celsius (120 Fahrenheit) inBasra, fridges and air conditioners have stuttered to a halt.Household generators are running low on diesel.
As well as criticising the British for failing to restorebasic services to pre-war standards, protesters also accusedKuwaitis of involvement in smuggling out cheap Iraqi oil.
Reuters