BASRA, Iraq, Aug 5 (AFP) - Militiamen loyal to Shiite Muslim radical leader Moqtada Sadr on Thursday declared holy war against British forces based in Iraq`s main southern city of Basra after four of their comrades were arrested.
Three Mehdi Army militiaman were later killed during a 15-minute gunfight with British troops on Al-Gama bridge in northern Basra, said Sheikh Saad al-Basri, Sadr`s representative in the overwhelmingly Shiite city.
The area is a bastion of Sadr support in the city.
Three other militiamen were wounded in the exchange and two British land rovers damaged, Basri said.
"We will wage jihad (holy war) and war against the foreign troops, not against police and Iraqi forces," he vowed earlier.
"However, if they (the Iraqi personnel) fight on the side of the occupiers, we will strike them harshly."
Basri accused British forces of arresting four Sadr supporters in order to "create in Basra, the state of crisis that exists in Najaf".
A British military spokesman in Basra could not confirm the Mehdi casualties but said troops had been attacked on three separate occasions with small arms fire, causing no multinational casualties or damage to equipment.
The army did confirm four militia members had been arrested Wednesday as part of a "routine security check and are being held to assist with inquiries".
An AFP photographer saw British troops deployed in armoured vehicles and tanks around Sadr`s main offices and elsewhere in the city.
Police chief General Mohammed Kazem al-Ali said officials at Sadr`s office had rejected his attempts to defuse the tension through negotiations.
In Amara, north of Basra, a number of mortar rounds were fired at a British position in the city, but there were no casualties, a British spokeswoman said.
Basra deputy governor Salam Audeh, who represents Sadr on a provincial council, accused foreign troops of reneging on a June truce that ended Sadr`s uprising earlier this year.
The British military also confirmed that two projectiles were fired at a multinational base camp in Sibah, south of Basra on the Kuwaiti border. One hit the camp and the other fell short.
Neither caused any casualties, it said.