BASRA, Sept 20: The Iraqi government denounced British forces on Tuesday over the dramatic rescue of two undercover soldiers, saying the action could stoke hostility towards foreign troops.

“It is a very unfortunate development that the British forces should try to release their forces the way it happened,” Haider al Ebadi, an adviser to Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, told a news conference in Baghdad.

British tanks smashed the walls of an Iraqi prison on Monday to free two undercover British soldiers seized earlier in the day by Iraqi forces.

An Iraqi official said six tanks had crushed the walls of the jail in Basra and British troops then freed the soldiers. The governor of Basra confirmed the jail had been broken into.

Dozens of Iraqi prisoners at the jail had escaped at the same time, the interior ministry official said.

Tensions in Basra had risen on Sunday when British forces arrested two leading members of Shia leader Moqtada Sadr’s Mehdi Army militia.

The tough British response is likely to further strain ties between Iraqis and British troops, who had maintained relatively good relations with the Shia population of Basra by pursuing a low-profile security policy, in contrast to tougher US tactics.

Britain, which has 8,500 troops in Iraq, said on Sunday it would send more if necessary. But a leaked memo signed by Defence Secretary John Reid in July envisioned bringing most of them home over the next year.

British soldiers have faced less popular anger in Iraq than their US allies, but Iraqi police vented their fury in Basra as they inspected damage from the British raid.

“Four tanks invaded the area. A tank cannon struck a room where a policeman was praying,” said policeman Abbas Hassan, standing next to mangled cars outside the police station and jail that he said were crushed by British military vehicles.

“This is terrorism. All we had was rifles.”

Photographs of a burning soldier being pelted as he climbed out of a tank in Basra were splashed across British newspapers.

In Iraq, state television footage showed the two soldiers unshaven and looking nervous as Iraqi police looked over wigs, Arab headdresses, an anti-tank missile and communications equipment, all apparently used in their mission.

Images of the pair seemed sure to fuel suspicions by militias in Basra and elsewhere who believe foreign troops are on a secret mission to exploit Iraq.

Unrest in the Shia south, home to Iraq’s biggest oil reserves, would pile pressure on the Iraqi government, which is already fighting a Sunni resistance further north and had hoped the south would remain relatively calm. Residents of Basra urged British troops to leave Iraq.—Reuters