PUNISHING RAIDS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 132, 6 May 1941, Page 5

PUNISHING RAIDS

ON IRAQ REBELS

R.A.F. TAKES TOLL. LONDON, Xlay 5

As a result of the punishing attacks by the Royal Air Force, half of the Iraq air force has been put out of action.

This destruction is revealed in a communique from Headquarters in Cairo. Yesterday the Iraq artillery near Habbaniyah aerodrome was rendered completely silent as a result ol our raids. The British occupants have suffered very few casualties as a result of hostile action.

Great damage was done by the R.A.F. on the Iraqi aerodrome, at Moascar Raschid, near Bagdad. 'lhe situation at Basra is still quiet, our troops being in occupation with reinforcements.

Fighting occurred at a post near the Syrian border after an attack by Jraq troops on an unarmed British party working on a bridge. Raschid AH has little of the country behind him ; no thinking Iraqi wants to sec the independence of his country transferred to Hitler.

A Middle East communique says that vestcrdav the intermittent artillery shelling'of the R.A.F. station at Habbaniyah was-not of a serious nature. As a result of our raids so far it has been established that the greater part of the Iraqi aircraft have been rendered unserviceable. Successful patrols from Habbanivah were carried out last night. TRIBES RALLY TO BRITAIN".

A Press Association message says that it is learned in British circles in Istanbul that some tribes in. northern Iraq are rallying to Britain. German circles there say that Nazi troop-carry-ing planes have landed in Iraq and also that rioting has broken out in Jerusalem.

Ankara radio reports that a blackout and tho curfew have been ordered in Bagdad. Doctors and nurses have been ordered to be ready for all emergencies. Rashid Ali, the Iraq '-Quisling," has proclaimed a general amnesty for rebels now in Iraq prisons and they are to be allowed to return to their units.

The Vichy news agency reports from Bagdad that Rashid Ali, in his attempt to rouse the Arabvworld in a holy war against Britain, alleged that British planes on Saturday bombed the open town of Fallouja on the Euphrates, hitting a mosque and causing casualties among women and children. It is also reported that the Mufti of Jerusalem has appealed to Palestinians to fight against Britain.

The Swiss radio quotes an Iraq military communique declaring that British planes bombed Baloya. between Bagdad and Habbaniyah, killing several people and destroying a iuunl>er of houses.

BRITISH TROOPS CONVERGING LONDON. .May 4.

The British Ambassador at Bagdad (Mr Cornwallis) reports all quiet in Bagdad. The situation is tense hut there have been no incidents thus far.

British troops arc marching on Bagdad from three directions and the British commander has ordered the occupation of the capital at any cost, says the Ankara radio, quoting reports from Beirut. The British thus far far have not encountered any resistance. The radio added that Britain has at least 50.000 troops in Iraq. It is officially stated in London that a clash occurred in the Basra area between the British and Iraqi forces. The Iraqi were driven off by our bombing and artillery fire and we occupied the aerodrome there. The Bagdad radio announced a decree dismissing Britishers from the State service. Jt told Iraqis to report to the police foreign planes or parachutists. The Swiss . radio said Abdullah s army was being formed in Transjordania and will march forthwith against Rashid Ali's forces. The Germans since 1936 have been subsidising ambitious armv officers who were responsible for the 'coup on April 1. The Iraqi Government on the outbreak of the war in 1939 expelled the Germans but Italian agents carried on under the direction of Dr. Grobba, German Minister at Bagdad, who worked from Rome. The Iraqi Army comprises three o-roups stationed at Bagdad, Basra and Mosul with a smaller section on the outskirts of Bagdad. The troops attacking Habbanivah come from the Bagdad "•roup which is most closely linked with the Germans. The sympathies of the other groups are not known but a conflict within the army is possible because a number of military leaders did not support Rashid.