Hundreds of terrorists killed in Baghdad secret SAS missions aimed at taking out al-Qaeda

More than 3,500 terrorists have been 'taken off the streets of Baghdad' by an elite British force aimed predominantly at stopping suicide car bombers.

The brazen 'Black Ops' have been going on for the past 18 months and while a  majority of the insurgents were captured, it is also thought several hundred - mainly members of an organisation known as 'al-Qa'eda in Iraq'  - have been killed by the SAS.

The SAS is part of a top-secret unit called 'Task Force Black' which also includes Delta Force, the US equivalent of the SAS.

Suicide car bombers killed around 3,000 people a month in Baghdad at the height of the terrorist attacks in 2006.

The SAS began to tackle the threat almost exclusively at the same time the US military launched its so-called 'surge', in which an 30,000 extra American troops moved into Baghdad's most dangerous areas, in early 2007.

Using spies and informers to gain intelligence Task Force Black have dismantled the terrorist network to such an extent that bombings in Baghdad have been reduced from about 150 a month to just two.

However the covert mission saw six members of the SAS killed and more than 30 injured.

While Delta Force has suffered in the region of 20 per cent casualties.

In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph a senior British officer said: 'We took over 3,500 terrorists off the streets of Baghdad in around 18 months.

'You could say it was a very successful period. But the butcher's bill was high.

'The attrition rate is equivalent to that experienced by the SAS during the Malayan insurgency 50 years ago.

'The relationship between the SAS and Delta Force is very close.

'If anything, the attrition rate in Delta Force is higher.

'Two years ago the SAS made a donation to Delta Force’s 'widows and orphans’ fund of £10,000.'

A British lawyer oversees the planning of operations to make sure they are undertaken within British law.

Devastation: An Iraqi policeman stands next to the wreckage of a car bomb in Baghdad which killed two policemen and wounded 12 Iraqis

Senior Sources insisted the SAS was not taking part  in 'extra-judicial killings' and said any incident which appeared to be in breach of the British Army’s rules of engagement would be investigated internally by the unit and by the Royal Military Police if wrongdoing was suspected.

The source said: 'There is no shoot-to-kill policy in Iraq, but there are only a few ways of stopping a suicide bomber.

'A British lawyer is present during the planning stages of every operation and our troops operate under British rules, not American rules.'

Gen David Petraeus, head of the US forces in Iraq, who is due to leave his post shortly, is highly impressed with the SAS.