August 25, 2006

Base looted after British turn it over to Iraqis

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Hours after British troops handed over a military base to Iraqi forces, hundreds of Iraqis -- some with their faces covered and wielding guns -- looted it, police and army officials told CNN Friday.

The base, Abu Camp Naji, is in the southern city of Amara in Maysan province. The looters took materials such as doors, window frames, corrugated roofing and metal pipes and loaded them onto trucks. Some news reports said the base was looted again Friday, but CNN could not confirm that. More than 1,000 British troops had been based at the camp.