British artillery and jets launched a fierce attack last night on a convoy of up to 120 Iraqi tanks and armoured personnel carriers seen pouring out of the city of Basra towards the Faw peninsula at the southern tip of the country.
US and British aircraft, as well as ground units, repeatedly hit the column as it tried to head south-east along the main road towards the Iranian border. The battle appeared to be an unequal one.
In dozens of sorties, British Harrier GR7s and Tornado GR4s, along with American A10 Warthog tank-busters using depleted uranium bombs, pounded the column, which showed no signs of attempting to surrender.
The convoy contained up to 120 Soviet-made T-55 tanks, along with artillery pieces and armoured personnel carriers, and left Iraq’s second city at 5pm local time.
By 9pm last night, at least three lead vehicles in the column had been destroyed and could be seen in flames from the air.
The column left the main road and scattered into open countryside, much of which has become a quagmire after 24 hours of rain.
Unmanned spotter planes were sent up by the coalition to provide individual fixes on the scattered Iraqi tanks.
But heavy night mist reduced visibility to just 1 500 metres in many areas, making the Iraqi units harder to find.
The emergence of the column took British commanders from the 7 Armoured Brigade and 3 Commando, who have surrounded Basra, by surprise.
Within minutes of its departure, it had been picked up on coalition radar.
An hour later, once it was ascertained that the tanks were not ”friendly” as originally believed because of their large numbers, UK troops were given permission to attack.
From the air, US navy F/A-18 Super Hornets and RAF Harrier ground attack jets dropped cluster bombs on the Iraqi armour.
Major Mick Green, of 40 Commando, said: ”We have no idea why this column has come out at the moment. Their intentions or motives are totally unclear but they have adopted an offensive posture and do not want to surrender, so we have attacked them.
”The inexplicable thing is why they have decided to move so much armour before darkness. To move tanks around in daylight is suicide.”
The Iraqi move out of Basra seemed to be an audacious attempt at a counterattack, to strike at commandos who have secured the peninsula.
Whatever the precise rationale behind the Iraqi tactics, at least it demonstrates that the Iraqi army is still prepared to act boldly.
Up and down the Euphrates valley US infantry and tanks were drawn into a running battle yesterday, fighting off constant ambushes on the road to Baghdad in 30 hours of near continuous fighting.
US units claimed to have killed several hundred Iraqis, including Fedayeen guerrillas and Republican Guard, without suffering casualties.
Last night US military officials said Iraqi reinforcements were heading south from Baghdad to Kerbala. Troops in civilian vehicles could be seen leaving the Iraqi capital and were attacked by coalition jets.
”We understand that there are a few vehicles driving south to the Kerbala gap and we’re engaging them,” said the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, General Richard Myers. – Guardian Unlimited Â