AID IN SHORT SUPPLY IN SOUTHERN IRAQ: The man staggered over the bridge with a wheelbarrow containing his wife and son, writes Jack Fairweather
"Please you must help her, I think she is dying," said Jasim, a teacher of English from Gul Ashab, a village a few miles to the north of Basra which marks the furthest advance of British forces into Iraq.
He helped his wife gingerly to her feet and, as a British officer approached, pulled back the clothing from around her waist to reveal her intestines hanging out.
He turned away, too distressed to watch as the officer began treating the wound, caused, Jasim said, two days ago when Iraqi artillery in the north fired towards Basra to quell the brief uprising in the city.
"I do not know why the Iraqi army attacked my village. This is the sort of people that they are," said Jasim.
His seven-year-old son's hand had been shattered by shrapnel, although he hid not flinch as the dressing was applied.
"He'll probably lose that hand if nothing is done," said Capt Tony Hulton, in charge of the advance reconnaissance unit with the 1st Regiment, Royal Fusiliers. "But there's little else we can do at the moment." Although humanitarian aid has begun arriving in the south of Iraq over the Kuwaiti border, on the front line there are no facilities for treating wounded civilians.
Jasim picked up the wheelbarrow loaded with his wife and son, and said: "Why have you not crossed over the bridge yet to free my people? There are many more people like us in Basra and we are very scared. If you had come sooner maybe this would not have happened."
He made a forlorn figure as he wound his way back over the bridge in the early-morning mist to the opposite bank pitted with artillery rounds and already looking like a war zone several months old.
In private, senior British officers agree with Jasim's sentiments, and admit to be being frustrated at the speed of the advance around Basra. For three days British forces have been busy pacifying the armed militia groups that have arisen in allied-controlled areas in the south.
At headquarters for the 7th Armoured Division, a senior British officer said: "We are not going to be able to start moving in on Basra until all our elements are in place and that means we have a full humanitarian relief effort ready to go in. We know that there are a lot of desperate people in the city."
A British field hospital could be seen yesterday moving into place at Basra international airport and limited aid has begun to be distributed to villages around the town of az-Zubayr.
The two articulated lorries carrying enough supplies for 24 hours were mobbed as they entered the town of Mushfa, an indication of the difficulties to be faced by any large-scale relief effort.
"This is not how it should be," said one British soldier, aged 20, standing with rifle ready should the crowd get out of hand.
In az-Zubayr the previous day, rocket-propelled grenades had been fired at an aid convoy, and the food was thrown from the backs of the lorries as quickly as possible.
At the sound of nearby British artillery firing everyone dived for cover. The distribution of food and water resumed in a tense silence.
A British medic walked around handing out aspirin, saying: "We are British and we are here to help. Tell your people that the British are good and that they should not shoot at us."
One Iraqi man appeared convinced as he sniffed joyously at a case containing fruit jam. "The British are very good. We are very pleased you have come."
But the scene provoked the anger of the chief engineer of the local refinery and head man of the village.
"Why do they throw food to us? We are not dogs. We welcome supplies of food and water of course, but we have a village store room where it should be kept and given out fairly."
He was placated by one British officer but he retorted angrily: "We don't even know if you are here to stay. Many people lost their lives in this village 12 years ago when we fought against Saddam. Will you be here to protect us in a few weeks' time?"
At a nearby former Iraqi police checkpost where British soldiers had set up a kitchen area for themselves and had strung their washing out to dry, the symbolism was obvious.
Maj Tim Muir of 23 Pioneer Regiment said: "We've moved in to this country and we're here to stay."