BLACK WATCH soldiers in Iraq have smashed a suicide bombing squad after a series of dramatic exchanges of fire and a helicopter chase in the desert.

Two insurgents were being questioned at the battle group’s base, Camp Dogwood, last night after bomb-making equipment was found in their car.

A gang of up to ten rebels had earlier traded heavy fire with troops before trying to flee. As others shot their way out, two were tracked by a helicopter, surrounded and arrested while hiding in a mosque.

It is the first real success for the regiment since its arrival 25 miles south of Baghdad, in North Babil province, two weeks ago.

The troops, who have been attacked on every day of their mission, were elated last night.

The four-hour chase started when the rebel group opened fire on soldiers in two Warrior fighting vehicles with rocket-propelled grenades and AK47s.

They had been spotted operating an illegal vehicle checkpoint on a bridge over the Euphrates northeast of Camp Dogwood.

As The Black Watch returned fire with 30mm canons and 7.62mm chain guns, the gang jumped into three cars and retreated.

Army Air Corps Lynx helicopters were scrambled to track the cars as they fled into the desert. One helicopter rear gunner returned fire on one rebel vehicle after its occupants opened up with a machinegun. A second car was stopped in its tracks when troops fired on it.

The fighters scattered after booby-trapping their vehicle with a grenade.

After the device was disarmed, a large cache of rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and other weapons was found inside it.

A second helicopter tracked a third car, a Toyota Prince, as it headed south along the east bank of the Euphrates.

As Lieutenant-Colonel James Cowan, The Black Watch’s Commanding Officer, co-ordinated the pursuit from the air, ground troops cornered the Toyota outside a mosque.

Soldiers from the regiment’s Alpha Company sealed off all escape routes and closed in on foot. The two arrests were made after a cleric pointed out one of the rebels who had tried to blend into the crowd.

A second rebel car was found during a sweep of the village.

Equipment found in the cars included plunger detonators, electrical circuit boards and three 155mm artillery shells.

Major Alastair Aitken, 34, Officer Commanding A Company whose troops made the arrests, said: “It’s always good to achieve a success. We have disrupted insurgents’ movements and broken a specific operation. That will send them a strong message.”

This report was compiled under Ministry of Defence restrictions

Times Recommends

• Should Knox’s trial even have reached the courtroom?
• 'Was it real?' The US bailout nightmare
• Iranian opposition plays the long game