Since the conflict began, three helicopters and an RAF Tornado have been lost in accidents and two soldiers are missing after their vehicles came under attack from Iraqi forces on Sunday.

Blair, who is facing the toughest weeks of his premiership for his firm support for the US-led military action on Iraq, would brief the House of Commons about the progress of war after a big parliamentary revolt by members of his ruling Labor party last week.

He was expected to be grilled about the missing soldiers as well as a series of accidents which have led to the deaths of 16 British servicemen.

Two British aircrew were killed on Sunday when a US Patriot missile battery shot down their Tornado bomber in the Gulf.

The Tornado bomber was returning from an operational mission when it was downed early Sunday near the Kuwaiti border with Iraq.

The incident, the first reported case of "friendly fire" since the start of this ongoing war, brings to 16 the tally of British servicemen killed in the Gulf.

On Saturday, six British servicemen were killed when two Royal Navy Sea King helicopters collided over the Gulf in what was described as a "tragic accident."

Eight British Royal Marines died when the US CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter they were on board crashed before dawn in Kuwait.

The accidents have underscored the risks of waging round-the-clock strikes on Iraq and brought sadness, anger and bewilderment among British troops and the public.

Blair, who has sent about 45,000 troops to the Gulf and is aware of British unease about the war, told his troops through the British Forces Broadcasting on Sunday that Britain had united behind the armed forces despite widespread opposition to the war.

However, he said, "These things are never easy. There will be some tough times ahead."

(Xinhua News Agency, March 24, 2003)