BASRA, Iraq, March 11 (UPI) -- British commanders in Iraq recently deployed a special forces unit in Basra to root out militants firing rockets at the Contingency Operating Base.
The base, located just outside of Basra City, in southern Iraq, is home to several thousand British troops. Officials say Contingency Operating Base has increasingly come under attack from rockets fired by militant operatives. In response British commanders deployed the special forces from the 1st Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, to put a stop to the rocket and mortar attacks, the British Ministry of Defense reported.
Officials say the soldiers, from Spearhead Platoon with expertise in reconnaissance and counter-indirect fire, were dropped in the suspected militant area by helicopter to root out the militants. Despite not finding the source of the attacks officials say the special forces soldiers largely acted as a deterrent.
"It was a good patrol," a spokesman from the 1st Battalion Duke of Lancaster's Regiment said in a statement. "The militants did not fire any rockets in the direction of the Contingency Operating Base so it was a job well done. It is important to have troops on the ground to prevent rocket attacks, as a deterrent if nothing else."
