Friday, May 25, 2007
British security company hit in Basra
Security
(AFP) - Insurgents detonated a roadside bomb beneath a vehicle belonging to a British-based security company in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Friday, British military officials said. "There seems to have been a roadside bomb. We have no more details, but we believe it was a private security vehicle," said British military spokesman Major David Gell, adding that he had received no word on casualties.
Another British military official later said that the vehicle belonged to the London-based Aegis Specialist Risk Management, a private security company, which said it had no knowledge of the incident. Children frolicked around the burning hulk of a sports-utility vehicle, squirting the wreckage and each other with toy water guns, an AFP photographer at the scene said. Although southern Iraq has been relatively calm, British military and private security forces frequently come under attack from the local Shiite militias that control Basra, the country's main sea port.
Another British military official later said that the vehicle belonged to the London-based Aegis Specialist Risk Management, a private security company, which said it had no knowledge of the incident. Children frolicked around the burning hulk of a sports-utility vehicle, squirting the wreckage and each other with toy water guns, an AFP photographer at the scene said. Although southern Iraq has been relatively calm, British military and private security forces frequently come under attack from the local Shiite militias that control Basra, the country's main sea port.
Labels: Aegis Defense Services, Basra, private security companies, roadside bombs, Shia militias
