24/04/2003

Bulk of UK ground forces to return home

British armed forces in the Gulf region are set to be withdrawn, according to reports emerging today.

It has been reported that a brigade of the Royal Commandos and the 16th Air Assault Brigade will be sent home in the coming weeks – although no firm departure date has been revealed. The 7th Armoured Brigade will remain in situ. The Royal Navy has already ordered elements of its fleet home and RAF pilots are also returning home.

The US command indicated yesterday that Coalition forces are "nearing the end of combat operations".

Lt Gen David McKiernan said the ground campaign against the Iraqi regime is making a "blurred transition" from combat operations to post-hostilities operations.

He said that the resistance offered against coalition forces comprised of what he described as "regime pockets, paramilitary formations – including foreign fighters – and terrorist attacks".

There are currently 26,000 UK grounds troops deployed in southern Iraq and Kuwait and, overall, Britain's commitment to the war in Iraq totalled some 45,000 personnel.

Elsewhere, the MoD announced today that Lieutenant Alexander Tweedie – who was left in a coma when his Scimitar armoured vehicle overturned in Iraq on April 1 – has died in an Edinburgh hospital.

In a statement his family said: "Alexander's death has shocked and saddened us greatly, and words cannot adequately express the depth of our grief. He was a wonderful, loving son who brightened the lives of everyone who knew him. He was proud to serve with the Household Cavalry, and had a very promising career ahead of him. We are proud of Alexander and will remember him in our hearts forever."

Lieutenant Tweedie, who was 25, had served for two and a half years in D Squadron, The Blues & Royals, Household Cavalry Regiment. His commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Mark van der Lande OBE, said Lieutenant Tweedie would "be sorely missed by us all".

(GMcG)

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