GULF WAR 11: S.B.S. KILL 200 IN BASRA RAID

COURAGEOUS British special forces troops helped wipe out 200 of Saddam Hussein's fanatical Ba'ath Party commanders yesterday.

Just hours later British tanks fought their way to the centre of Basra and destroyed a 20ft-high statue of Saddam, a tactic intended as a psychological boost to local residents opposed to the dictator.

But one of the biggest successes of the war so far is credited to a squadron of the Special Boat Service.

The crack soldiers - who rival the SAS - were operating inside the besieged city in southern Iraq when they spotted several hundred of Saddam's supporters going into a building for a late Friday evening meeting.

They swiftly called in two US F-15E Strike Eagle jets patrolling nearby.

The SBS forces targeted a laser-guided bomb on the Ba'ath HQ, killing around 200 of the party's leaders.

British forces claimed another success in the Al Faw peninsula in which 40 Iraqis were estimated killed and 300 taken prisoner by Commandos when two buildings housing Iraqi forces were attacked.

And in another clash in Basra, soldiers from the Royal Fusiliers were attacked by Iraqi armoured cars. They were destroyed, however, by the new LAW 90 light anti-tank weapons.

British sources at US Central Command in the Qatari desert estimated there were around 320 Iraqi dead in the fighting which lasted through the night.

There were no UK casualties.

Soon after the SBS attack 11 tanks from the Scots Dragoon Guards staged a lightning raid into Basra.

They drove five kilometres into the heart of the city, despite heavy fire from bands of militia armed with rocket-propelled grenades.

Several of the Challenger tanks took direct hits, but none of the weapons penetrated their armour.

The 2.30am raid was aimed at destroying symbols of Saddam's reign to show civilians that the regime is doomed. "This is a message to the people of Basra that these guys are consigned to history," said one officer.

Tank commander David Ross, who blew up the statue, said later: "It took only one round. It was a black, cast-iron statue of Saddam in a greatcoat with his right arm raised in the air. It just sort of crumpled. I just wish it was the real thing."

Other tanks destroyed a militia headquarters and a 300ft-tall TV and communications tower.

After several hours of action, the British tanks withdrew safely without a single casualty. It is believed dozens of Iraqi militia died in the attack. Despite the success of the raid, there is still no sign of a major push by besieging 7th Armoured Brigade "Desert Rats" into the city.

Commanders stress they will not be rushed into fighting which might cause large-scale civilian deaths.

"We must convince the people to have the confidence to rise against the oppressive political control of the Ba'ath Party and the irregulars who do its bidding," said Colonel Chris Vernon in Kuwait.

"Each time we make one of these attacks, we degrade the regime."

Meanwhile, more details of Friday's "friendly fire" incident in which one Briton died and four were wounded also emerged yesterday.

Lieutenant Colonel Mark van der Lande said the men were from D Squadron - the Blues and Royals - serving outside Basra.

-CRITICISM of US tactics is beginning to surface privately among British troops. One senior officer suggested heavy-handed American troops had killed a number of innocent civilians in Umm Qasr.

"They answer anything with a salvo of tank rounds or a major bombing," he said.

"They were in their vehicles, roaring down the road every time a shot rang out."

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