Morning:
9°c
Exclusive poll: Boris Johnson has clawed his way back to a two-point lead in the closest mayoral race yet despite Ken Livingstone's hugely popular pledge to cut fares
More...
Italians forced to flee base
Evening Standard Last updated at 00:00am on 17.05.04Fighters loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr drove Italian forces from a base in the southern city of Nasiriyah and attacked coalition headquarters there with grenade and mortar fire as tensions in the Shi'ite region escalated.
One Italian and two Iraqi fighters were killed and 20 wounded in battles in Nasiriyah, mostly at two bridges crossing the Euphrates river, according to local reports.
The Italian troops evacuated their base as they came under repeated attack. Portuguese police were called out to support them. At least 10 Italians were wounded.
Elsewhere in southern Iraq, militants in Basra fired a mortar at a house near a British military base, killing four Iraqi civilians, including twoyearold twin girls.
In Baghdad, gunmen fired on a minibus, killing two Iraqi women working for the Americans.
