U.S. and British attacks have killed 16 Iraqis and wounded 95 over the past 24 hours, Iraq's Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf said on Tuesday. Sahaf told a news conference that Iraq had killed eight invaders, destroyed three armored personnel carriers and downed three U.S. helicopters but it was unclear if this included previously reported actions.

Meanwhile, British forces south of Basra have blocked an attempted breakout by up to 50 Iraqi tanks seeking to press southward from the edge of the city, a British naval commander said on Tuesday.

Captain Alan Massey of the flagship aircraft carrier Ark Royal said British light tanks from the Queen's Dragoons' Guard and marines from two battalions on the Faw Peninsula had halted the advance of the Iraqi tanks overnight and on Tuesday morning.

"They were aided by small helicopter gunships and further surveillance helicopters stationed on board ships in Britain's amphibious task force off the Iraqi coast," he told Reuters.

He said the helicopter and ground forces had destroyed five to seven Iraqi tanks in the fighting so far.

PHOTO CAPTION

A British soldier fires at Iraqi forces in the city of Basra, in southern Iraq , March 24, 2003. U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Richard Myers said on March 25 that he anticipated the toughest fighting in the war with Iraq still lay ahead. Speaking on ABC's 'Good Morning America' program, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff anticipated resistance would get tougher the closer troops moved toward Baghdad. (Mark Richards, Pool/Reuters)