British forces in Iraq have suffered their heaviest losses for more than two years in an intensifying battle against Shia militias, just as 1,600 troops out of a total contingent of about 7,000 prepare to withdraw.
Ten service personnel have been killed in Iraq so far this month, including four in the past week, bringing the total number who have died in combat to 110. Since the war was declared over at the beginning of May 2003, the only other month in which the number of British deaths has reached double figures was January 2005, when 10 servicemen were killed in a Hercules crash caused by enemy fire.
The latest soldiers to die were caught up in a roadside explosion during a Scimitar armoured vehicle patrol in Maysan province, the type of duty Prince Harry is expected to perform when he deploys to Iraq with the Blues and Royals soon. But most of those killed were in Basra, which has seen a recent upsurge in armed clashes.
Last weekend, shortly after the deaths of four British soldiers, two of them women, and an Iraqi interpreter in an explosion which destroyed a Warrior armoured vehicle, British forces killed eight militiamen laying explosive charges in the same area. A day later, British troops backing an Iraqi police raid in Basra's Hayaniya district shot five gunmen who opened fire on them. Although the US military said the gunmen had been killed, their British counterparts could not confirm that.
The previous week, there were almost daily firefights and search operations. In one, 10 gunmen were said to have been hit; in another, 20. A military spokes-man, Lt Col Kevin Stratford-Wright, gave a dramatic account of one clash, in which he said gunmen had attacked British forces with machine-gun fire and several RPGs from alleys and rooftops in the city's south-western Qibla district. The soldiers returned fire from machine-guns mounted on their armoured personnel carriers.
"There was a substantial exchange of gunfire," said Colonel Stratford-Wright. "Ten of the enemy were hit. I don't know whether they were wounded or killed."
Such incidents were reported to be part of a more aggressive strategy by British forces towards Shia militias, ahead of the anticipated handover of security control in Basra within months. Colonel Christopher Langton, senior fellow for conflict at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, said: "British forces don't want to leave a vacuum in their wake. They are consciously changing tactics, and going on the offensive rather than sitting in their bases.
"To make an orderly withdrawal, [the British] need to keep pressure on the people who are trying to build their own forces and powerbases, and prevent them turning Basra into a de facto autonomous region where the Iraqi security forces cannot go. That means being aggressive at certain times."
Brigadier Tim Evans, commander of the force engaged in most of the operations in Basra, the 19th Light Brigade, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there had been "disturbances" in the past week as political parties vied for control. "There will be struggles and power plays as they try to fill the vacuum," he said.
Provincial elections, due since the national poll in December 2005, were needed to resolve a situation in which various forces were contending to see "who is going to be taking over eventual power".
Another British military spokesman in Basra, Major David Gell, denied the recent spate of clashes signalled a shift of policy, or attempt to parallel the US-led crackdown in Baghdad. "We have always taken the stance that we will protect ourselves if attacked," he said. "That is what has happened in these cases.
"We have made no conscious effort to become more aggressive, though it is possible that there is more aggression against us. There will always be peaks and troughs in the violence."
Despite the number of incidents, and the increase in British deaths, the withdrawal programme announced by Tony Blair has continued.
British forces have handed over two bases in central Basra to the Iraqi security forces, and a third, the Shaibah logistics base, in the desert south of the city, is to change hands this week. Once the main centre of British operations in Iraq, it will be used by the Iraqi national army as a training base.
Within days, 1,600 British troops, mainly from the Staffordshire Regiment, will be returning home. By the time the 19th Light Brigade completes its handover to the 1st Mechanised Brigade in the next few weeks, the British complement in Iraq will be down to 5,500 troops. The Prime Minister said in February that a further reduction of about 1,600 troops would be considered, but Brigadier Evans stressed that this was "conditions-based". He told Today: "We anticipate being able to hand over security control of Basra province to the governor in summer or autumn."
But the governor, Mohammed al-Waeli, is a controversial figure in Basra, a city seen as a crucial prize, because it is the hub of Iraq's southern oilfields. Imposed on the province by the central government in Baghdad, his al-Fadilah party has since pulled out of the ruling Shia-Kurdish coalition. It is also at odds with another maverick Shia group, led by the cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, though he too has now quit the coalition, and several armed clashes between the groups have been reported in recent weeks.
Last week, 2,000 Sadrists demonstrated outside the governor's office in Basra, demanding his resignation. For Louise Heywood, head of the UK armed forces programme at the Royal United Services Institute, the significance of this was that security was handled by the Iraqi army without help from the British, who had the responsibility before.
"There are far fewer British forces on the street," said Ms Heywood. "Patrols are mainly done jointly with the Iraqis, who are in the lead and do the planning." An exception is arrest operations, which the British do alone to avoid the danger of leaks.
British forces are concentrated at a base at Basra airport. In Baghdad, thousands of extra American troops are pouring in. Now a three-mile "peace wall" is being built around a main Sunni districts to contain the violence; here, hundreds have been killed in suicide bombings and US troop losses were high.
"It is a very different situation in Basra," said Major Gell. "There are no clashes between Sunnis and Shias, or suicide bombings. We have had one or two 'mini-surges' in the past six weeks, when we have supported Iraqi forces in closing all eight permanent checkpoints surrounding the city and checking every vehicle, but it is not comparable to what is being seen in Baghdad."
Iraq: The British casualties
Corporal Ben Leaning
The 24-year-old was commanding a Scimitar reconnaissance vehicle hit by a roadside bomb in Maysan province. Cpl Leaning, from Scunthorpe, joined the Army in 1999 and was on his second Iraq tour. His family said it was devastated by the loss of "a loving son and great friend".
Colour Sergeant Mark Powell
The SAS soldier, originally from the Parachute Regiment, died north of Baghdad in a collision last Sunday between two Puma helicopters. The 37-year-old father of one from Porthcawl, south Wales, was described by comrades as an "exemplary combat leader".
Trooper Kristen Turton
Tpr Turton, 27, from Grimsby, died with Cpl Leaning as the Queen's Royal Lancers protected a convoy. He was a sharpshooter and assault pioneer. His wife, Sharon, said: "Kris told me he lived for two things: me and the Army. He died doing something he loved."
Sergeant Mark McLaren
Sgt McLaren, 27, was killed in the helicopter collision two weeks before he was due to return home from his fifth tour of duty in Iraq. From Ashington, Northumberland, he joined the RAF in 1999, and had twin boys aged nine months. His father called him "the joker of the squadron
