BASRA’S Shia population celebrated yesterday as Challenger tanks and Warrior armoured vehicles from three Desert Rats battle groups surged into the city shortly after 5.30am (2.30GMT).

Some Iraqis cheered and waved at the advancing British troops while others turned on Fedayin paramilitaries, with several of the militiamen seen being killed by mobs. Chairs, tables and other possessions were looted from wrecked government and paramilitary buildings as inhabitants of the Shia slums on the outskirts of Basra capitalised on the British advance.

As night drew in tanks and infantry from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards were positioned at the symbolic gateway to Basra, a crossroads on the edge of the old town district, dominated by a statue of Saddam Hussein until it was destroyed a few days ago by a British tank.

The Black Watch battle group had advanced to the north of the Royal Scots, taking control of another large part of the city. The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, supported by paratroopers of the 16th Air Assault Brigade, completed the attack by sweeping into the northernmost districts of Basra, pushing down towards the boundary of the old town.

The advance was supported by an artillery bombardment from British AS90 guns, and strikes from US Cobra attack helicopters. The initial target for the Royal Scots was to destroy a factory compound occupied by Fedayin and to secure a sprawling college in which large numbers of foreign paramilitaries, including Syrians and Palestinians, were holding out.

There was a deafening roar as the Challenger tanks of the Royal Scots’ B Squadron departed in the darkness, with Warrior vehicles from the 1st Battalion Irish Guards alongside them. Ahead, four miles away, lay the centre of Basra.

Within minutes the tanks were engaging paramilitaries defending the factory complex to the north of Route Red, where the Baath party’s latest headquarters were believed to be located.

As the Iraqi defenders retaliated with rocket-propelled grenades, a succession of rounds were fired by the Challengers into the complex, setting it on fire and killing many paramilitaries. Some tried in vain to flee as civilians from the nearby Shia Flats slum poured on to the streets in support of the British attack. Some shouted and cheered, greeting the British soldiers with waves, thumbs up and smiles.

Others wrought vengeance upon their oppressors, surrounding and attacking the fleeing Fedayin. A crowd descended upon one paramilitary, striking furiously at him and departed, leaving his lifeless body on the street. Gangs of looters appeared, seizing seemingly anything that was moveable from what remained of the Baath party buildings.

The Royal Scots advanced along Route Red, which stretches from the Shatt alBasra waterway to the east of the city, leaving the Shatt al-Arab, which forms the western boundary of Basra. Abandoned Iraqi T55 tanks in sandbagged positions could be seen to the middle of the road.

All appeared quiet as the British tanks reached the gateway to Basra, the limit of the initial British mission, which at the start of the day had been intended as a brief raid.

The Challenger tanks and Warriors stood quietly for more than an hour, fanned out in defensive positions around the spot where Saddam’s statue had stood. Observation suggested that the second target of the morning, a College of Literature, was deserted.

When, however, a Challenger tank commanded by Major Chris Brannigan, Commanding Officer of the Royal Scots B squadron, crashed through the gates of the complex, with Warriors manned by Irish Guards infantry in support, dozens of Fedayin emerged from sandbagged positions, firing rocket-propelled grenades.

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