US Marines fight Iraqis in major battle at Basra

9.20pm

UPDATE - US Marine tanks battled Iraqi forces on the western outskirts of Basra today, a US Marine captain said.

"We are attacking Iraqi forces, all of which are west of Basra," Captain Andrew Bergen told reporters in the Basra region.

"I would certainly say it's a major battle."

Meanwhile Britain has been dealt a second blow in the Gulf War after two Royal Navy Sea King helicopters collided. Seven crew members, including one American, were feared dead.

This followed a helicopter crash in Kuwait on Friday when eight British soldiers and four US marines were killed.

"We believe that there are no known survivors," a Ministry of Defence spokesman said today after the Airborne Early Warning Sea King helicopters collided over international waters.

"We have Search and Rescue looking. We do not have details of what operations they were on. We know it was not the result of enemy action."

"The Pentagon has confirmed that one of the seven was an American," the spokesman added.

Britain's casualties have now reached 14 after the other helicopter crash on the Kuwait-Iraqi border. None have been killed in action against the Iraqis.

In the 1991 Gulf war to liberate Kuwait, 24 British troops died. These included nine killed by "friendly fire" - hit accidentally by their own allies.

The helicopter crashes will inevitably cast a pall of gloom over Prime Minister Tony Blair's war cabinet called on Saturday morning to review progress in the conflict.

And the grim news from the Gulf meant that Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon and Defence Staff chief Michael Boyce will yet again have to launch their daily briefing with solemn words of sympathy for the bereaved.

After the first helicopter accident, Admiral Boyce told reporters: "While those of us in uniform really do understand that these tragedies are sad, we also understand it is a feature of warfare. But it never gets easier."

Despite the tragedy, Boyce said "I am very encouraged by the start we have made. It is very early days but I have to say the coalition progress so far has been promising."

Admiral Boyce, briefing reporters on the fast-moving campaign, said forces had secured the strategic Faw peninsula, captured the port of Umm Qasr and were on the outskirts of the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

News from Iraq's southern oilfields was not as grim as originally feared.

"All the key components of the southern oil fields are now safe," Boyce said. He reported that only seven oil wells had been set on fire by the Iraqis -- not the 30 earlier reported.

"We are absolutely determined not to allow Saddam Hussein to do more damage to the lives of his people through some scorched earth policy," he said.

The chief of the defence staff said several hundred Iraqis had surrendered so far and that forces had seized Iraqi vessels ready to lay mines.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq