'Friendly fire' brings down RAF Tornado

An RAF aircraft which went missing along with its crew while returning from operations in Iraq was hit by a US Patriot missile battery, it was confirmed today.

Air Marshal Brian Burridge, commander of the British troops in the Gulf, said the aircraft was "engaged" by a missile battery and was missing close to the Kuwaiti border.

Speaking from Central Command in Qatar, Air Marshal Burridge said coalition forces were now searching for the downed aircraft and its crew.

The Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said the incident was very sad and sent his "thoughts and prayers and wishes" to the families of those involved. But he warned that "friendly fire" casualties were always likely in military action on such a "phenomenal" scale.

"That is the nature of warfare and you try to minimise this but it is a tragedy nonetheless for the families.

"The scale is phenomenal and all of these are pieces of complex equipment and you have to have near-perfect relationships between the pilots and the equipment, the equipment and the other bits of equipment, the Patriot battery, the codes, the identification of the friendly forces has to be absolutely right at the right time."

Group Captain Al Lockwood, spokesman for British forces in the Gulf, said the disappearance of the aircraft and crew was the subject of a joint probe by US and UK investigators.

There were fears too today that missing British TV reporter Terry Lloyd and two of his news crew may also have been hit by "friendly fire" from coalition forces inside Iraq.

The crew - ITN cameraman Fred Nerac and local translator Hussein Othman - disappeared after the incident which happened as they were trying to get to the front at Basra.

Another cameraman, Daniel Demoustier, was injured as their two cars came under fire but he was able to get to safety.

Meanwhile as the conflict entered its fourth day, there was fresh fighting in the Iraqi port town of Umm Qasr.

US Marines were involved in a fierce battle with Iraqi squads bolstered by members of Saddam Hussein's special forces.

Marines fired a missile, attacked with tanks and eventually called in air strikes to try to end resistance.

Speaking from the scene, the Sky News correspondent David Bowden said: "As far as I know there were no casualties on the US and British side but I would expect the gunmen inside the building (Iraqis) are now all dead."

Air Marshall Burridge said: "There will come a point where they recognise there is no point in carrying on but for the moment they fight fiercely but only in small groups."

The former Prime Minister John Major predicted that coalition forces might have to stay in post-war Iraq for a lengthy period.

Mr Major said: "There may be a great deal of internal chaos and certainly a tremendous humanitarian effort will be needed. "

He added: "It is likely to cost also ... a huge amount of money ... we are talking 15 billion, 20 billion, maybe 25 billion dollars a year for peacekeeping alone.

"That is quite apart from any restoration, rebuilding, and quite apart from humanitarian aid."

Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf, Iraq's information minister, reported that 503 people were injured during yesterday's heavy "shock and awe" raids in Baghdad and other key sites. He also claimed that 77 civilians were killed in Basra.

However there were differing reports from aid agencies and local TV channels about the numbers of civilian casualties in the conflict so far.

Meanwhile, a new poll showed public opinion had rallied sharply in support of the war against Iraq now that British forces are in action.

A YouGov survey for The Sunday Times found that 56% thought Britain and the US were right to take military action, with 36% opposed.

The figures were almost the exact reverse of a similar poll before the outbreak of hostilities when 36% backed military action with 57% against.

Meanwhile the Foreign Office minister Mike O'Brien said it "would not be helpful" if further Turkish troops crossed the border into Iraq because there did not appear to be any need for them to be there.

He refused to say if Saddam or members of his regime was in contact with the allies - or if he knew for definite if the dictator was still alive.

But he added: "No doubt he's in contact with other Arab nations, I know that some countries have been telling him to leave and avoid further bloodshed, and I very much hope that Saddam Hussein will leave.

"There are a lot of things that are fog of war issues at the moment."