Basra, July 28: Unknown assailants fired Rocket-Propelled Grenades (RPGs) at a shop selling alcohol in the southern Iraqi city of Basra late tonight, wounding five people, Iraqi medical sources said. A vehicle stopped 15 metres from the shop and an assailant fired two or three RPGs before fleeing in the car, said British Colonel George Mendonca. The attackers covered their escape with Kalashnikov fire.

A doctor said five people were wounded in the assault, one of them seriously. Two or three blasts were heard when the RPGs were fired at around 9:45 pm (23:15 IST).

Since Saddam Hussein's Baath regime fell to the US-led coalition in April, Christian salesmen of alcohol have been harassed by Muslim fundamentalists in this port city. Amnesty international lambasted British forces in control of southern Iraq in a report earlier this month calling for an end to disorder in Basra. The rights watchdog noted a spike in violent crime since Saddam fell.

Bureau Report