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| Iraq |
| Basra invites British contractor Aegis back for security role |
| 2014-01-05 |
| [The Telegraph] Six years after the last British troops left amid a barrage of bombs and mortars, the Iraqi city of Basra is to re-enlist UK military expertise to oversee its security again. Anxious to rid itself of the lawlessness that still plagues Iraq’s southern capital, Basra’s governor has hired a private military company run by a British general who helped capture the city from Saddam Hussein. Maj Gen Graham Binns, who is the chief executive of Aegis Defence Services, commanded the 7th Armoured Brigade when it led the siege of Basra in 2003. Four years later he supervised the handover of the city to Iraqi security forces. Now, amid growing concern about a fresh wave of terrorist violence across the country, Basra’s governor has invited Maj Gen Binns’s company back to assist at a “strategic level”. Aegis will be asked to provide help with setting up specialised CCTV detection and checkpoint systems across the city, establishing a “ring of steel” security system to thwart suicide bombers. It will also set up an academy to help security forces improve coordination and intelligence-gathering techniques. Fortress Basra. Good luck with that. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #3 After Basra was taken all the Brits did was hunker-down so as to not take casualties And they were good at it. Hence going back to Major General Binns' outfit. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2014-01-05 18:20 |
| #2 This is curious. After Basra was taken all the Brits did was hunker-down so as to not take casualties. |
| Posted by: Fat Bob Glerens2255 2014-01-05 13:01 |
| #1 If I were a Kuwaiti, I'd be concerned.... again. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-01-05 11:48 |