Previously, coalition forces said they wanted to avoid urban combat in Iraq's second-largest city. 

The decision to declare parts of Basra "military targets" came after U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said "urgent measures" had to be taken to restore electricity and water. 

British forces have surrounded Basra and secured its airport but have continued to face resistance fighters, including members of Saddam Hussein's elite Fedayeen paramilitary force. 

"We're obviously assessing the situation before we commence operations to take out the non-regular militia which seems to be set to opposing our taking of the objective," said Group Capt. Al Lockwood, spokesman for British forces in the Persian Gulf. 

With 1.3 million people in Basra, "we need to secure the city for the inhabitants and to ensure that their basic necessities in life are taken care of, and obviously that the necessary humanitarian aid, (and) medical facilities are restored as quickly as possible," he said. 

British military officials said several days ago that they would prefer to negotiate surrenders with Iraqi troops rather than move into Basra itself to secure it. But with resistance persisting, they apparently concluded that something more decisive was necessary. 

It was not clear if British forces would move into Basra. They have said they wanted to avoid urban combat for as long as possible. 

Humanitarian organizations warned of disaster if water and electricity aren't restored quickly. 

"In a few weeks, when the population has exhausted its supplies, we will need to intervene," said Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Program, which distributed food under the U.N. oil-for-food program. 

Government warehouses are "practically empty," she said. 

Ian Simpson of the World Health Organization said his agency was concerned that poor-quality water could cause a major outbreak of diarrhea - which already is responsible for 75 percent of deaths of children under 5 in Iraq. Cholera is another worry. 

A two-person team from the International Committee of the Red Cross had used generators to re-establish some water pumping operations at Basra's main station by Tuesday, Red Cross spokesman Florian Westphal said. 

Power had been cut Friday as coalition forces tried to secure Basra. Other disabled pumping stations were operating again by Monday, restoring the water supply to 40 percent, the Red Cross said. 

Basra is Iraq's main seaport and lies in southern Iraq's oil-producing region. It is a mostly Shiite Muslim city; a 1991 uprising by Shiites in Basra was crushed by the Iraqi military during the Gulf War. 

A British military spokesman said Basra itself was a military target. But later he said only parts of the city - regime and military infrastructure - were so designated. 

In a separate attack on militiamen loyal to Saddam, members of Britain's 7th Armored Brigade captured a member of the Baath Party in nearby Az Zubayr on Monday night, the spokesman said. The goal of the operation was to "separate the party members from the military," the spokesman said. 

Also in Az Zubayr late Monday, a soldier with another British unit was killed. It was the second combat death for Britain. 

Also late Monday, 25 Iraqi armored vehicles, including a number of T-55 battle tanks, were destroyed after British forces called in air support over the al-Faw peninsula, the British spokesman said. The Iraqis were firing mortar rounds and artillery.