British tanks move into Basra

Desert Rats push through "patchy resistance" heading for the heart of Iraq's second city

The war entered a new phase today when British tanks rolled into the centre of Basra.

A fortnight after surrounding it and following a series of probes, soldiers from the 7th Armoured Brigade - the Desert Rats - pushed through "patchy resistance" to the heart of Iraq's second city.

Their commander said Saddam Hussein's regime was "on the run" in Basra.

Brigadier Graham Binns added: "Their days are limited.

"Our intelligence tells us that morale is low among the defenders of the city, that the population is glad to see us, can't wait to see us, and the opposition such as it is, is uncoordinated."

In London, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon hinted that Britain and the United States believed that the war might soon be over, declaring that he hoped only "a very small" number of UK troops would still be in the country in a few months' time.

ITV News reporter Juliet Bremner, who was with the convoy of advancing British troops, said Iraqi forces had effectively been taken by "surprise" by the coalition's push into the city.

"Hundreds of tanks are travelling down one of the main highways which leads directly into the north of the city," she said.

"As far as we know there shouldn't be too much of a problem getting into Basra itself. There seems to be nothing to stop them."

A source at Central Command in Qatar said The Desert Rats' armour initially met "patchy" resistance as the troops moved in from the south west.

The Basra offensive came a day after allied aircraft bombed a villa there belonging to one of Saddam Hussein's most notorious henchmen.

General Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" after ordering gas attacks on Kurdish civilians in the north, was appointed by his cousin Saddam to command forces in the south.

He was widely feared by the population in Basra and there were reports of thousands of people cheering after his home was destroyed.

The decision to try to take al-Majid out was part of the allied campaign to encourage an uprising.

Military commanders could not establish with certainty whether he died in the bombing but believed it was probable that he had.

Al-Majid's removal was expected to clear the way for some of the city's population to welcome British troops.

The UK forces have also been broadcasting their message into Basra on a new radio station set up outside the city to prepare the way for moving the armour in.

In Baghdad, the authorities imposed a night-time curfew to stop civilians attempting to flee as US forces closed in around the capital.

An American military spokesman said about 2,000 Iraqi fighters were killed in Baghdad during an armoured raid in and out of the city yesterday.