Six British soldiers killed in Iraq

By KIM SENGUPTA

Six British soldiers were killed and eight injured in two ferocious ambushes in Iraq today in the biggest losses suffered by coalition forces since the end of the war.

Up to 80 Iraqis are also believed to have been killed in the prolonged and fierce firefight.

The dead soldiers were members of the Royal Military Police. They were massacred inside a village police station where they had gone for a prearranged meeting. Their bodies were found by local people who alerted the British military.

Four and half hours earlier, in a second attack at the same village - Al Majar alkabir- a patrol of around 20 members of the 1st Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, came under withering fire, injuring one soldier and destroying two Pinzgauer troop carriers.

An RAF Chinook helicopter, carrying a Quick Reaction Force team, summoned for help also came under sustained attack injuring seven on board, three of them seriously.

The attacks, near al-Amarah north of Basra, were the first serious confrontation in the shia south, controlled by the British, and Iraqis, in marked difference to the Sunni north and central areas of the country where the American occupying forces have faced constant attacks.

The attacks showed careful planning and coordination. The RMPs, who were working with the 16 Air Assault Brigade based in Basra, had been training local Iraqi polic. Their appointment at the station was obviously known to the attackers, according to defence sources. They were said to be lightly armed and wearing berets rather than helmets when the attack took place.

The paratroopers, based at Connaught Barracks in Dover, were on patrol in an area which was part of their regular route when their troop carriers were believed to have been hit by rocket propelled grenades and raked by semi-automatic rifles.

The injured were taken to 202 Field Hospital near Basra and two have since been transferred to a US field hospital in Kuwait for " special treatment of a very serious nature".

The deaths bring the number of British forces killed since the start of the conflict to 43, and the most lost in combat during one incident.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair met Geoff Hoon, the Secretary of State for Defence, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary and Baroness Amos, the Secretary of State for International Development.

Afterwards Mr Hoon appeared at the Commons to give details of the casualties to sombre MPs. He said : The two vehicles in which they (the paratroopers) were travelling were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns and rifle fire from a large number of Iraqi gunmen. British troops returned fire and called for assistance. A quick reaction force including Scimitar vehicles, additional troops and a Chinook CH-47 helicopter was despatched to provide assistance. They also came under fire.

"A total of eight British personnel sustained injuries - one on the ground and seven in the helicopter."

"Coalition forces have worked hard to secure Iraq in theaftermath of decisive combat operations. They will not be deflected from their efforts by the enemies of peace."

Donald Rumsfeld, the US Secretary of State for Defence, said "Just as they were unable to stop the coalition advance in Baghdad, the death squads will not stop our commitment to create stability and security in postwar Iraq."

Mr Rumsfeld claimed the violence was a result of "the global war on terror," and a reminder of the Bush administration's pre-war assertions that Saddam Hussein's regime was tied to al-Qaeda.

"Every day in Iraq and Afghanistan, throughout the world, brave men and women risk their lives to defend us all from terror," Mr Rumsfeld said.

Tony Blair's official spokesman said " The Prime Minister was informed of this during lunchtime today and heard the news with great sadness and it goes without saying that he believes those who died have died with honour doing a very worthwhile job, serving their country with great distinction."

The town of al-Amarah lies near the Iranian border, north of Basra. It was the base of Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as 'Chemical Ali', a senior member of Saddam Hussein's regime, who had earned his nickname for carrying out chemical attacks on Shia and Kurdish rebels.

The US and British governments had claimed that General al-Majid was killed in a missile attack during the war. However, the Pentagon has subsequently acknowledged that he may have survived and could be leading forces loyal to former President Saddam.

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Herald Feature: Iraq