Post by SAS P&P Admin on Apr 4, 2005 6:55:20 GMT -5
Helicopter pulls out SAS team after secret mission uncovered
By Neil Tweedie in Qatar
(Filed: 03/04/2003)
A British Special Forces mission in the north of Iraq went disastrously wrong when the team was discovered by enemy troops and forced to abandon its equipment.
The soldiers, from the SAS or SBS, were carrying out operations near Mosul when they were forced to call in helicopters to get them out.
Military sources said no men were dead or missing, despite Iraqi claims that 10 had been killed in a firefight.
Tribesmen were shown on al-Jazeera television with a British Land Rover and a quad-bike used by the SAS for operations in rough terrain.
Civilians grinned as they drove the Land Rover through the streets of the town of Baaj, and the camera then cut to the quad-bike and a cache of British weapons including hand-held rocket launchers, 40mm grenades, machineguns and specialised radio equipment.
There were no pictures of dead or captured British servicemen, but the footage forced the Ministry of Defence to break its traditional silence on Special Forces operations and admit that the rescue had happened.
"There was an extraction operation," said a spokesman. "A certain amount of equipment was lost, and this has been shown on al-Jazeera television. We cannot go into further details because Special Forces were involved."
It is thought a special operations Chinook helicopter of the RAF was used in the rescue, preventing a repetition of the Bravo Two Zero episode in the 1991 Gulf war in which an SAS team found itself cut off in the western Iraqi desert. All but one of that unit were killed or captured.
The SAS and SBS have been working across Iraq for two months at least, playing a part in the capture of airfields in the west of the country.
Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, the Iraqi information minister, described the incident as a major defeat.
"It is a complete defeat. Amazingly the Americans have pushed the British to do that. They pushed them ahead as an experiment. It is very tragic for the British," he said.
US and British Special Forces have been in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq for several months helping to build links with the KDP and PUK rebel groups.
Since the start of the war they have been active on the Kurdish frontlines, directing US air strikes on Iraqi positions outside Mosul and Kirkuk.
Their efforts have allowed Kurdish fighters to advance close to the two oil cities.
By Neil Tweedie in Qatar
(Filed: 03/04/2003)
A British Special Forces mission in the north of Iraq went disastrously wrong when the team was discovered by enemy troops and forced to abandon its equipment.
The soldiers, from the SAS or SBS, were carrying out operations near Mosul when they were forced to call in helicopters to get them out.
Military sources said no men were dead or missing, despite Iraqi claims that 10 had been killed in a firefight.
Tribesmen were shown on al-Jazeera television with a British Land Rover and a quad-bike used by the SAS for operations in rough terrain.
Civilians grinned as they drove the Land Rover through the streets of the town of Baaj, and the camera then cut to the quad-bike and a cache of British weapons including hand-held rocket launchers, 40mm grenades, machineguns and specialised radio equipment.
There were no pictures of dead or captured British servicemen, but the footage forced the Ministry of Defence to break its traditional silence on Special Forces operations and admit that the rescue had happened.
"There was an extraction operation," said a spokesman. "A certain amount of equipment was lost, and this has been shown on al-Jazeera television. We cannot go into further details because Special Forces were involved."
It is thought a special operations Chinook helicopter of the RAF was used in the rescue, preventing a repetition of the Bravo Two Zero episode in the 1991 Gulf war in which an SAS team found itself cut off in the western Iraqi desert. All but one of that unit were killed or captured.
The SAS and SBS have been working across Iraq for two months at least, playing a part in the capture of airfields in the west of the country.
Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, the Iraqi information minister, described the incident as a major defeat.
"It is a complete defeat. Amazingly the Americans have pushed the British to do that. They pushed them ahead as an experiment. It is very tragic for the British," he said.
US and British Special Forces have been in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq for several months helping to build links with the KDP and PUK rebel groups.
Since the start of the war they have been active on the Kurdish frontlines, directing US air strikes on Iraqi positions outside Mosul and Kirkuk.
Their efforts have allowed Kurdish fighters to advance close to the two oil cities.