Australian special forces destroy HQs

icWales ^ | Mar 24 2003 | Nick Allen

[smpc]

Australian special forces have taken out two of Saddam Hussein's command and control centres and killed some of his most elite soldiers, they said today.

The 500-strong Australian Special Forces Task Group includes commandos, specialist troops trained to deal with weapons of mass destruction, Chinook CH-47 helicopters and an SAS squadron operating deep inside Iraq.

They were flown to a forward base by C130 Hercules transporters and have already fought groups from Saddam's Special Security Organisation and the Iraqi Intelligence Service.

Two Iraqi command and control centres for ballistic missile systems and anti-special forces operations were destroyed.

Australian F/A-18 Hornet fighters have also targeted tanks and a barracks from the air.

National commander Brigadier Maurie McNarn, speaking at Allied Central Command in Qatar, said: "Equipment and vehicles were destroyed and people were killed. There have been no Australian casualties."

He said the regular Iraqi army was providing much less opposition than the specialist operatives the SAS had come up against.

"As we were moving into Iraq, we contacted a group and there was an initial firefight.

"Most of them put down their weapons and ran away or put their hands in the air.

"These blokes didn't want to fight, they didn't want to be there.

"All we did was treat their wounded, send them on their way and carry on with the mission.

"So far we have either struck hardcore elements of the regime who have fought and died or we have had blokes who really don't want to support the regime and don't want to be there and, in that case, we let them go.

"The nature of the special forces operation is that you can't go round the country with a bunch of prisoners so if they are no longer a threat, we treat them and let them go on their way."

[priddivet]

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