British army intelligence sources have said that terrorists attacking British bases in Basra, Iraq, were using aerial footage displayed by the Google Earth internet tool to pinpoint their attacks.
Documents seized during raids on the homes of insurgents last week uncovered print-outs from photographs taken from Google.
The satellite photographs show in detail the buildings inside the bases and vulnerable areas such as tented accommodation, lavatory blocks and where lightly armoured Land Rovers are parked. Written on the back of one set of photographs taken of the Shatt al Arab Hotel, headquarters for the 1,000 men of the Staffordshire Regiment battle group, officers found the camp’s precise longitude and latitude.
"This is evidence as far as we are concerned for planning terrorist attacks," said an intelligence officer with the Royal Green Jackets battle group. "Who would otherwise have Google Earth imagery of one of our bases?" "We are concerned that they use them to plan attacks. We have never had proof that they have deliberately targeted any area of the camp using these images but presumably they are of great use to them."
"We believe they use Google Earth to identify the most vulnerable areas such as tents."
One soldier has been killed in the past six months following a mortar attack and there have been several injuries. Since the maps were found intelligence chiefs have been keeping track of where rounds land to see if the insurgents are using them to pinpoint weakly protected areas.
The British camps experience mortar and rocket attacks on a daily basis. Salvos are fired from up to four miles away and are increasingly accurate. On Saturday, three rounds were fired into Basra Palace at a block close to where some reporters were staying. No one was injured.
Intelligence sources also believe that the insurgents are receiving more training and weaponry from Iran to improve their fighting skills. But the British are gathering more intelligence on mortar crews and launching several "strike operations" to detain the operators. Anyone with the internet can sign up to Google Earth and can receive very detailed imagery down to identifying types of vehicles.
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