Battle that wasn't meant to happen

By ANDREW BUNCOMBE AND CAHAL MILMO

As smoke rose from the spot where a Javelin missile had slammed into an Iraqi compound and an unidentified military vehicle suddenly came into view, United States Marines Sergeant Nick Lerma screamed hoarsely: "Get down on your bellies, this ain't done yet."

The battle for Umm Qasr, the strategic Iraqi port close to the Kuwaiti border, flared ferociously back into life yesterday after US forces found themselves sucked into a battle with about 120 entrenched opponents.

It was a struggle much like any of the dozens taking place simultaneously across Iraq on Sunday barring one dramatic detail - this encounter was being beamed live into the sitting rooms of the world.

Television carried extraordinary footage of the four-hour battle between members of Fox Company of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Iraqis holding a compound of low-rise buildings on the edge of town.

Later, coalition bombers launched a series of fresh air strikes on Umm Qasr, lighting up the sky and shaking buildings 16km away.

Umm Qasr had supposedly been under the control of Anglo-American forces since Saturday, when US soldiers had controversially raised the Stars and Stripes over the town only to rapidly take it down again.

But the "pockets of resistance" that have begun to dog the advance across southern Iraq became only too clear when Fox Company came under fire from the Iraqis, possibly members of the Republican Guard.

A crew from Sky News recorded what followed in giddying detail as the camera panned across soldiers firing heavy Machineguns and mortars at the compound 300m away.

As some Marines peered through binoculars and others took drags from cigarettes, the live pictures showed two of the men firing the Javelin - a shoulder launched anti-tank weapon.

To shouts of, "That was off," the first missile fell short of the tree-shrouded compound. As the second squarely hit its target, sending a plume of white dust and smoke into the air, it was greeted with loud whoops and cries of, "Oh, yeah!"

At intervals, the camera ducked beside the road from where the battle was being conducted to interview Sergeant Lerma, who could be heard directing proceedings.

Sitting with his helmet beside him and the microphone for his battlefield radio still strapped to his head, he told the reporter that the compound had been under surveillance for several days.

"When sunrise came up we noticed a couple of silhouettes in the windows - it was the first time we had got a visual on bodies or figures.

"Once we got our eyes on them, these individuals began signalling to four men close to the building. At that point, these four individuals started opening fire."

The cameras panned several times to show shells being fired from two M-1 Abrams tanks as the Marines called for backup.

Finally, the area was cleared when Fox Company called in air strikes from an American F-15 and a British Harrier. At least two 226kg bombs could be seen tearing into the compound.

Though some reports said the bomb run had resulted in a number of Iraqi soldiers waving white flags and surrendering, the situation in the port was last night still unclear.

American snipers had taken up positions to monitor the buildings as soldiers said the situation was "very dangerous" and access was restricted.

The fight for Umm Qasr and the ability of a small number of Iraqi fighters to hold up a significantly stronger force with more sophisticated equipment was no small embarrassment for allied officials.

It was also suggestive of the difficulties that could lie ahead for the British and American forces as they march towards Baghdad.

Commanders had always said they would avoid urban warfare as much as possible, and yet at Umm Qasr - just 1.6km inside Iraq - such plans have already had to be rethought.

Lieutenant Colonel Ben Currie, of 3 Commando Brigade, the unit co-ordinating the battle for Umm Qasr and the surrounding Al Faw Peninsula, said: "Umm Qasr and the port are absolutely vital to us and we are going to have to go in and seize it. We're going through and clearing it street by street, house by house."

British officials said taking Umm Qasr was a key priority, given the port's importance. About 60 per cent of the food imported by Iraq as part of the United Nations sponsored oil-for-food programme enters through the port, and Britain and America plan to use it to bring in humanitarian supplies as well as equipment to restock their troops.

Two British ships carrying supplies - the Argus and the Galahad - have been held up in the Gulf waiting to hear that the port is safe.

It was at the town's docks that US Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit came under sniper fire yesterday morning.

Sergeant Dennis Flores, a 22-year-old with the Marines, said: "At times it's been so frightening it just doesn't feel real. I looked out of the Humvee I was travelling in and saw lines of bullets coming along the ground towards me."

There were reports that Iraqi troops were firing from the windows of civilian houses. Soldiers said they were switching back and forth from their uniforms to civilian clothes in order to confuse the allies.

An American officer, Captain Rick Crevier, said a captured Iraqi officer had told them 120 Republican guards were dug in.

- INDEPENDENT