Word: aires
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...air support was requested by Iraqi ground troops that were being attacked by that position," he said. He said that the Americans have carried out four air strikes overall since the offensive began. He also said that, at the request of Iraqi forces, British artillery fired on the al-Halaf district of Basra on Saturday...
...Violence continued to escalate in Baghdad as well, with the U.S. using air power against Mahdi Army positions in the militia stronghold of Sadr City...
...There has been Coalition air presence for four days," said Maj. Tom Holloway, a spokesman for the British military in Basra. He said that the request for air support had come from the Iraqi military, relayed through American and British liaison officers at the scene, and approved by U.S. military officials...
...Holloway would not say whether the introduction of U.S. air power had required political approval by American or Iraqi civilian officials, but indicated that the use of American support was a contingency that had been built into plans for the Iraqi military's ground offensive...
...Whatever the specific weapons used in the U.S. close air support operations in Basra, their significance is clear. Taken together with Friday's announcement by Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki that the three-day deadline he had originally given militia fighters to surrender their weapons had now been extended to 10 days (and that those who complied would be financially rewarded), the U.S. air strikes appear to indicate that the fighting has been tougher than Iraqi government officials had anticipated. And while they insist that the offensive is aimed only at "rogue elements" of the Madhi Army and other militias...