Baghdad: Violence returned today to the southern city of Basra, where the British military lobbed six high-explosive artillery shells at militia fighters who hit the Britons airport base with 20 Katyusha rockets. Civilians were killed and wounded in the crossfire.

A parked car bomb blew apart in a Shiite enclave in northern Baghdad, meanwhile, killing five people and wounding eight at a bus stop in the district that has not seen major violence in months.

The resumption of violence and bloodshed both in Basra and Baghdad s Kazimiyah neighbourhood were troubling reminders that improvements in Iraqi security were tenuous, fragile and far from deeply rooted. Britain had returned security control in Basra to the Iraqi army and police in December.

At the end of January, meanwhile, American military deaths remained sharply lower than they were a year ago, but are up from December. The number of US troop deaths in January was equal to November s total of 37 killed, up from 23 killed in December. At this time last year, US military personnel were suffering much higher casualties, with 83 killed in January 2007.

At least 3,941 members of the US military have died since the beginning of the war. The total for January could rise; occasionally the military reports new casualties a few days after they occur.

Casualty figures were uncertain in the Basra attack, but the British said their return fire killed at least one man and wounded five. Three British soldiers were wounded in the rocket attack on their airport base. An Iraqi military intelligence officer at the British base said about 10 Iraqis were killed or wounded, although he could not provide a breakdown.

Source : PTI