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Kuwait Orders Troops to Fire when Fired Upon

In an announcement calculated as a warning to its beleaguered neighbor Iraq, Kuwait has ordered its security forces to return fire if Iraqi insurgents launch any further attacks at the Kuwait-Iraq border. The Kuwaiti Interior Ministry issued the order after Iraqi insurgents staged an ambush of Kuwaiti border police twice toward the end of August. There were no reports of casualties in the two incidents.

The Kuwaiti government wants incidents of cross-border attacks to stop even so, and the orders to its military reflect the willingness of Kuwaiti troops to defend themselves when fired upon. Kuwait has notified the Iraqi charge d` affaires in Kuwait City of its "dismay" at recurring violations and attacks at border areas.

A statement from the Foreign Ministry of Kuwait said a formal complaint has been sent to Baghdad explaining the Kuwaiti concerns with regard to the "breaches and aggression". Iraq, under dictator Saddam Hussein, invaded and occupied Kuwait in August of 1990, sparking the 1991 Gulf War which in turn led to the sanctions and over a decade of Iraqi violations of UN Security Council resolutions. This led to the 2003 Allied invasion of Iraq, and the subsequent outbreak of rampant Islamic and Baathist insurgent violence.