Mystery over downed plane

The security of military flights in Iraq is under urgent review after Islamic militants claimed they shot down a British transport plane - reportedly carrying special forces - with a ground-to-air missile.

It looked increasingly likely that the 10 servicemen on board the Hercules C-130 were killed by insurgents, but details of the crash remained unclear last night.

Questions were also being asked why 10 British servicemen were being flown to a US base in American-controlled northern Iraq.

The members of the RAF on board belonged to a squadron that works with the SAS.

An Australian airman, Flight Lieutenant Paul Pardoel, 35, from Victoria, was also killed in the crash.

The Hercules aircraft are the "workhorses" of the British and American forces, and are regularly used to ferry special forces and their equipment, and even VIPs on visits to Baghdad and Basra, where British troops are based.

Coalition troops had feared that a missile attack would bring down one of the slow transport planes and there was alarm that counter-measures fitted to them appeared to have failed.

The attack would increase pressure on the coalition forces.

Most roads in the country, especially in the Sunni area of central Iraq, are highly vulnerable to insurgent attacks. This has forced US and British forces to rely on aircraft for moving troops and supplies.

A senior officer said: "If we lose freedom of air movement it will be a massive problem. At the moment it looks more and more like enemy action.

"The C-130 has anti-missile defences, so this is quite puzzling. We are taking the precaution of carrying out a security review because this is Iraq and you cannot take chances."

Wreckage was strewn across the crash site, 32km north of Baghdad, suggesting a mid-air explosion had occurred.

British ground troops searching for the bodies were trying to secure the area, which is in hostile territory.

Footage on Al Jazeera television showed two missiles being fired at a plane, although the authenticity of the film could not be verified. Two groups have claimed to have carried out the attack.

Peter Felstead, editor of Jane's Defence Weekly, said: "If the al Jazeera footage was genuine, this would be an unprecedented and catastrophic event."

- INDEPENDENT