Des Browne, the new Defence Secretary, today defended British troops who opened fire on a crowd of Iraqis - killing five people including two children - in the aftermath of a guerrilla attack on an Army helicopter which claimed the lives of five British officers.

Flight Lieutenant Sarah-Jayne Mulvihill, 32, the first British servicewoman to die in action in 20 years and four colleagues were killed when their Lynx Mk7 was downed in Basra on Saturday.

The Ministry of Defence today released the identities of the five with tributes from their colleagues and families. The victims also include a Wing Commander who is Britain's highest-ranking officer to be killed in Iraq since the launch of Operation Telic in March 2003 and a 21-year-old who recovered from a motorcycle crash to pursue his ambition of joining the Royal Marines.

They are Wing Commander John Coxen (RAF), Lieutenant Commander Darren Chapman (Royal Navy), Flight Lieutenant Sarah Mulvihill (RAF), Captain David Dobson (Army Air Corps) and Marine Paul Collins (Royal Marines).

Between 200 and 300 Iraqis swarmed to the scene of the crash waving their arms and chanting in jubilation. They hurled blast bombs, stones, petrol bombs, and opened fire with AK47 Kalashnikov rifles. In a consequent confrontation, members if the 1st Battalion Light Infantry fired a number of live and baton rounds into the crowd leading to at least five civilian deaths, including two children.

Mr Browne briefed the House of Commons on the background to the clash earlier this afternoon and defended that actions of the troops. He confirmed that the five personnel were missing believed dead and warned that speculating about the precise cause of the crash was unhelpful and "very distressing" to relatives.

Making his first statement to the Commons since his appointment as Defence Secretary on Friday, he said that a detailed technical and Royal Military Police investigation was under way into the cause of the crash and its bloody aftermath.

He praised the Iraqi security forces for bringing the crowd, which he insisted was no bigger than 300-strong, under control.

He said: "British troops and Iraqi security forces came under attack with stones, gunfire, petrol and blast bombs, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. They fired baton rounds and a limited amount of live ammunition." He said this response was "entirely right".

Mr Browne said that seven British officers have been injured in the fighting, none seriously. He said that five Iraqis were killed and 28 injured.

He stressed that the events of the weekend did not indicate a deterioration in relations between the British soldiers and the local community. The provincial council, which is believed to have been infiltrated by members loyal to sectarian militias, severed all ties with coalition troops late last year following reports of coalition troops attacking civilians.

Mr Browne said: "The disturbance involved a crowd of 200 to 300 people. It was an isolated incident in a city of around 1.5 million. It was brought under control by Iraqi security services themselves in a matter of a few hours, and since the city has remained calm."

He said that although relationships with Basra's council had been "difficult for the past few months", it had agreed to co-operate in the investigation into the incident and had offered its condolences to the families of the victims.

He rejected suggestions from anti-war groups that southern Iraq was rising up against the British presence.

"I do not share that assessment, but more importantly nor do the commanders on the ground, including Major General John Cooper in Basra," he said. General Cooper has confirmed that he is content with the numbers and capability of troops at his disposal, but force levels will be kept under review.

"We are still committed to remaining in Iraq as long as we are needed. The Iraq Government wants us to stay until the job is done," he said.

Liam Fox, the Shadow Defence Secretary, added his tributes to the five British dead. He said: "This tragedy has seen our most senior servicemen and our first servicewoman killed in operations in Iraq. They are not there as an army of occupation. They represent hope for the majority of Iraqi people and they were there fulfilling a noble purpose."

Mr Fox asked the Defence Secretary whether he was confident that the size of the British force in Basra was sufficient to respond to unexpected events. He also asked whether there was any indication that the weapons used to attack the British forces had reached militias through Hezbollah in Iran.

Members of al-Mahdi Army, the militia which supports the radical Muslim cleric Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr, were being blamed for the attack on the helicopter and the subsequent assault on the British troops.

The attack on the Lynx was the first time that a British helicopter had been shot down in Iraq since Operation Telic began in March 2003. Military commanders in southern Iraq rarely use the Lynx to ferry troops, reserving it for routine trips, often with media or VIP visitors, or for surveillance.

The suspected weapon, an RPG7, is light enough to be carried and fired by a single operator. The Lynx is equipped with special defensive systems to evade heat-seeking surface-to-air missiles, such as chaff and flares to confuse an oncoming missile. But it is vulnerable to rocket-propelled grenades and has no system to evade such an attack other than through tactical flying.

The crash brings the number of British service personnel who have died in Iraq to 109. Of those, 85 have been killed in action. The rest died in accidents or of natural causes, illness, remain unexplained, or are still under investigation.

A US Marine was killed in fighting yesterday in the western province of Anbar, bringing the US death toll since the 2003 invasion to 2,416.

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