US missile downs RAF aircraft

The commander of British troops in the Gulf has confirmed that an RAF aircraft was hit by a US Patriot missile battery.

The aircraft was returning from a mission and is missing close to the Kuwaiti border.

Air Marshal Brian Burridge said military chiefs were now "deeply engaged" in searching for the plane.

But he could not give details of how many personnel were on board.

He told the BBC: "This is a sad moment but we will put it behind us as quickly as we can in a military sense and carry on to our objective."

Speaking on the Breakfast with Frost programme, Air Marshall Burridge said fighting near the port of Umm Qasr was against "small pockets of determined men".

He said regular Iraqi army soldiers had been bolstered with Saddam's special forces "to put some backbone into the troops".

They had "clearly failed" and were now fighting on their own, he 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."

He said he suspected Iraqi military plans were in "significant disarray" but the campaign would "take as long as it takes".

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