British troops 'were supplied with blank ammunition'

Report reveals devastating logistical failures, as anti-war protesters march in London

British troops in Iraq have been supplied with blank rounds instead of live ammunition, one of a catalogue of failures during the occupation that have put their lives at risk, according to a hard-hitting report to be published this week.

British troops in Iraq have been supplied with blank rounds instead of live ammunition, one of a catalogue of failures during the occupation that have put their lives at risk, according to a hard-hitting report to be published this week.

Inability to provide body armour and medical supplies in sufficient quantities are also understood to be among logistical shortcomings identified by the influential Commons Defence Select Committee. News of its findings came as tens of thousands of protesters marched through central London yesterday on the second anniversary of the invasion, calling for the Government to withdraw British troops from Iraq.

Demonstrators delivered a black cardboard coffin, symbolising civilian victims in Iraq, to the American embassy in Grosvenor Square before marching on to a public rally in Trafalgar Square. The organisers, the Stop the War Coalition, said more than 100,000 took part, but police estimates were nearer 45,000. There were simultaneous anti-war marches in European cities including Rome, Athens, Oslo and Stockholm.

An audit of the cost of the war by The Independent on Sunday shows 110 British lives have been lost in Iraq, including 86 military personnel. Another 2,937 have been medically evacuated, of whom 824 were suffering mental illness.

In Iraq, violence continued yesterday, with five policemen killed in two attacks. A suicide bomber who tried to attack a US military convoy set off his explosives prematurely, and no one else was hurt. In addition to the security threat, documents seen by the IoS showed police were being hamstrung in their fight against violent crime by the decision of US intelligence and military police to release suspects if they promised to inform on insurgents.

The Commons committee report on "post-conflict operations" in Iraq, to be published on Thursday, paints a picture of shambolic organisation since the war. It praises the Army's professionalism during the fighting, but says "woeful intelligence" left soldiers expecting garlands of flowers. Instead, they found themselves facing a hostile people hardened by a bombing campaign against them.

There was also a failure to realise how quickly occupation would turn to peace-keeping, and then to civilian policing - a role for which most soldiers were ill-prepared.