Good News: Iraqi Freedom Fighters Down Occupation Aircraft

Iraqi insurgents using a rudimentary anti-aircraft weapon against an RAF transport plane are likely to have caused the biggest single loss of life in the conflict, military sources disclosed yesterday.

Nine RAF crew and an SAS signaller were killed when a C130 Hercules was shot down during a "special duties" mission 20 miles north-west of Baghdad on Jan 30.

An interim Ministry of Defence report has ruled out almost everything apart from enemy fire and it was suggested that a missile or rocket-propelled grenade could have brought down the aircraft.

But an official told The Daily Telegraph yesterday that the report concluded that the Hercules had been shot down by anti-aircraft artillery, as it flew at a low altitude, possibly 150ft.

"It was shredded by a multi-barrelled 20mm canon," the official said. "They have worked out that's what caused the crash."

The gun is believed to have been a 1960s twin-barrel Zu-23, made in China or the Soviet Union, left over from the Saddam Hussein regime.

It has an effective range of 2,000 yards and can be mounted on a lorry or set on wheels.

It is not known why the Hercules, which was equipped with sophisticated defensive measures, was flying at low altitude for the 40-minute trip.