Brits Hit Iraqi Tank Convoys

British forces engaged and destroyed 14 Iraqi tanks that tried to break out of the southern city of Basra Thursday morning, and feel confident they can move into the city within the next 24 hours.

Group Capt. Al Lockwood said British Army tanks of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards engaged the tanks in a swift battle and destroyed all of them, in one of the largest losses reportedly suffered by Iraqi armor in a single engagement.

Iraqi forces have made at least three attempts to break out of Basra since Tuesday, according to British military officials.

"This is a crucial, crucial stage in the operation," said CBS newsman Mike Kirsch, traveling with the British troops. "If Basra can be taken, they can start securing roads in the south, and start moving supplies that are badly needed by U.S. Marines in the north for their push toward Baghdad."

British officials told Kirsch it's just a matter of time before British troops enter Basra. "They feel quite confident that they can do something in the next 24 hours in terms of getting into the city."

Lockwood said the latest column of tanks came out of the city overnight, possibly to engage coalition forces.

He said the columns were manned by Iraqi soldiers being forced to fight by Saddam Hussein's loyalists holding Basra.

Lockwood said Baath party militia were "threatening families of Iraqi soldiers to force them to drive these military vehicles out of Basra."

"They are being forced to fight by these militia. They are going into, apparently, people's homes, forcing the men to drive these vehicles to try and lead the escape out of Basra. They are obviously coercing them into this action, whereas in fact we would have wished them to surrender."

"Having established that these forces were not trying to surrender, U.K. forces took swift and decisive action against this threat, destroying a number through a mixture of artillery and airpower," Air Marshal Brian Burridge, the top British commander in the Gulf, told reporters in Qatar.

British forces have ringed Basra for several days, exchanging artillery fire with forces loyal to Saddam Hussein's regime. The British say they are coming to the defense of Shiite Muslims who rose up in the streets against Saddam Hussein's Sunni Muslim regime on Tuesday.

There were other signs of demoralization and a loosening of Baghdad's control. Kirsch spotted Iraqi civilians on the road near the city in a pickup truck.

"I drove up next to them and I yelled out the name 'Saddam Hussein,' and they immediately put their thumbs down and said 'Down Saddam Hussein' and 'Saddam must go,'" he said.

"The enemy's options are now limited. They don't know what to do and they're guessing. It shows the command and control exercised by Baghdad has broken down," Lockwood said.

"It's a suicidal approach which is irrational with no military logic to it. Military cohesion is sadly lacking."

British pool reports said U.S. Navy F-18 Super Hornets and Royal Air Force Harrier ground attack jets dropped precision-guided munitions and cluster bombs on the Iraqi armor.

The ground forces also got heavy support from British artillery, reported Kirsch. The column was pounded by 155mm AS90 heavy artillery from 3rd Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery, and 105mm light field guns from 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery, said the reports from the British Press Association.