An Irish Guard on the outskirts of Basra

British troops led by the Irish Guards were within four miles of the centre of Basra on Thursday night after making a dawn advance across the Shatt al Basra waterway to set up camp within the city for the first time.

Infantry from the 1st Battalion Irish Guards were supported by Challenger 2 tanks and RAF Lynx helicopters, moving over Bridge 4, the most direct route into the city.

There they occupied a large compound of buildings on the outer residential limits of the city.

Mortars and a surface-to-air missile were fired at the advancing British forces, without success, but many of the Iraqi fighters defending the city retreated, leaving their weapons behind them.

Some were caught by surprise, including one Fedayeen paramilitary soldier, who was asleep on sentry duty when the British troops arrived.

He was shot dead after waking and attempting to flee carrying a rocket-propelled grenade.

A raid into a shanty town close to the compound taken by British forces provided further successes, with six mortars, 37 rocket-propelled grenades and a large anti-tank weapon being discovered and destroyed.

'Reinforces'

There was a fortunate escape for the British troops, however, when engineers later discovered that explosives had been wired to Bridge 4.

A primer charge had been lit, but had failed to ignite the rest of the explosives.

The compound occupied by British forces is believed to have been a school or college complex, at least officially

Major Ben Farrell, the commanding officer of 2 Company of 1st Battalion Irish Guards, said the move into Basra was designed to intensify the pressure on the Iraqi paramilitaries in the city and would give British forces a valuable base for operations deeper into the city.

"Crossing the Shatt al Basra reinforces our message to the people of Basra that we are here to stay and gives us a base within the city," he said.

"It was a bit easier than we thought. All the way up the main road the Iraqis had prepared defensive positions, but they had obviously left in a hurry.

"The buildings that we have taken were being used as observation posts for enemy attacks so it is good to deny those places. It's been a very good day."

The compound occupied by British forces is believed to have been a school or college complex, at least officially.

It contained a large number of scientific laboratories, the contents of which are to be investigated over the coming days as well as a gymnasium and a three-storey building with classrooms and offices.

'Collection of photographs'

All the buildings, many of which had sandbag defensive positions on top, were badly bomb damaged.

Signs that academic life in Iraq differs from the student experience elsewhere are manifold.

A collection of photographs depicting Iraqi children, seemingly aged about 11 and upwards, training with rifles and marching in black jumpsuits - similar to those used by the Fedayeen - were on display in one room.

Irish Guards were supported by Challenger 2 tanks

One of the pictures also showed a child apparently biting the head off a chicken.

In another office a Kalashnikov rifle was stored in a desk alongside live ammunition.

Portraits of Saddam Hussein adorned many walls.

Despite such outward signs of loyalty to Saddam, British officers reported a friendly reception after entering the nearby shanty town, seizing a large quantity of weapons in the process.

The relative ease of the move into Basra does not, however, appear to presage an imminent attempt to capture the entire city.

British soldiers manning checkpoints into Basra began giving out leaflets to Iraqi people heading in and out of the city, advising them to be patient, but reassuring them that coalition forces would not back away from the removal of Saddam's regime.

The leaflet, which shows a British soldier shaking hands with an Iraqi man says: "This time we won't abandon you. Be patient, together we will win."

This report is based on a pooled despatch from Martin Bentham of The Sunday Telegraph, on the edge of Basra in southern Iraq.