About 1.5 million residents of Basra, Iraq's second city, are facing humanitarian crisis following a military stand-off between the British army and the Iraqi troops, said the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The fierce battle in the city, entering its fourth day today, and the continued air bombardments have disrupted electricity and water supply to the residents.

The Red Cross, o­ne of the few foreign aid agencies left in Iraq, said a humanitarian crisis in inevitable if adequate supplies of drinking water are not restored soon, said BBC in a report today.

At the risk of disease

The report added that since the pipeline was cut, Red Cross workers have been struggling to supply clean water but supplies are running at just 40 percent capacity and the quality of the water was poor.

According to UN officials in Jordan, some 100,000 children are at risk of disease as the battle-scarred city goes into its fourth day with disrupted supplies of drinking water.

Many people in Basra are now taking water from the river where sewage is dumped, reported BBC .

Human rights organisation, Amnesty International also feared that the type of humanitarian crises in Basra could quickly spread to other cities.

"All parties to the conflict in Iraq have a responsibility to ensure that the humanitarian needs of the civilian population are fully met," it said in a statement.

UN aid to continue

In a related development, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said yesterday that the United Nations will resume humanitarian aid to Iraq as soon as possible and will work with whoever is in charge after the fighting.

Associated Press reported Annan as saying that he and the UN Security Council "are determined to do whatever we can to keep that pipeline open."

The oil-for-food program, initiated by the UN after the 1991 Gulf, war fed about 60 percent of Iraq's 22 million people before it was halted by last week's start of the US-led war against Saddam Hussein.

The oil-for-food program allows Iraq to sell unlimited quantities of oil, provided the money is used primarily for humanitarian relief. Revenue from oil sales is kept in a UN-controlled escrow account.

AP also reported that European Union's newly approved humanitarian aid was starting to trickle into areas of southern Iraq hit by shortages of safe drinking water.

EU spokesman Michael Curtis said US$3.2 million in emergency relief funds were sent to the International Committee of the Red Cross and another US$19 million will be sent later this week.