By Paul Adams BBC Defence Correspondent

At the moment, they say, there are no plans to send more troops.

This could change, but officials believe the situation across southern Iraq, despite clashes in al-Amarah, remains generally stable.

"We don't want to inflame the situation further by becoming deeply confrontational," one noted.

Almost 9,000 British troops are based in Basra

But there are reports suggesting that British troops have killed 15 people in two days of violence in al-Amarah.

Some might argue that Britain's much vaunted "softly softly" approach has already broken down.

The UK has about 8,800 troops based in the south, as part of the 15,000-strong Multinational Division South East (MNDSE).

Eleven nations

Its headquarters are at Basra's international airport, and it covers the southern provinces of Basra, Maysan, Dhi Qar and Al Muthanna.

Eleven nations are involved, with Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and Denmark the largest other contributors.

British troops are in the middle of a six-monthly "roulement" at the moment, with elements of the 1st Mechanised Brigade taking over from 20 Armoured Brigade.

The rotation involves about half the British forces in Iraq, including all of those involved in day-to-day street patrols.

It should be complete by the end of May.

The mission is open-ended, with officials extremely unwilling to be drawn into speculation about how long it will last.

It is safe to assume that British troops will be on the ground for months, if not years to come.

As for what it all costs, it is hard to come up with exact figures.

The MoD put the cost of Operation Telic (Britain's military involvement in Iraq) at �847m in the year to 31 March 2003.

Last December, the Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram told MPs that the department would ask for an additional �1.2bn to cover the likely cost for 2003-4.

War chest

This would appear to leave about �1bn left from Gordon Brown's "war chest" of �3bn.

However, some experts have suggested that only about �300m remains.

With little prospect of a reduction in the number of British troops deployed to Iraq, Telic remains one of this country's biggest operations, second only to the 13,500 troops stationed in Northern Ireland.

Another 22,500 are in Germany, but these forces are regarded as being home based, as they have their families with them.

While officials avoid using the term "overstretch", they do acknowledge that British forces are heavily committed.

"Things are a bit tight," one admitted.