British Soldiers Killed In Basra : Saturday July 07, 2007

Two British soldiers have been killed and three others injured during a night of heavy fighting around Basra. Troops on patrol in BasraOne soldier, who has not yet been named, was killed when an improvised explosive device detonated while he was on a Warrior vehicle patrol in the Tuninah district, north of the Iraqi city. Next of kin have not yet been informed, a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said. The second soldier died in a separate incident in Basra Palace. They were taking part in a large scale operation involving 1,000 troops to detain insurgents suspected of other attacks. One soldier suffered serious injuries and two others received minor wounds in separate incidents in the area. All three are being treated at the British field hospital in Basra. The attacks came during a night of heavy fighting in the Basra region when troops were hit with bombs, rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire. Operations involving searches resulted in a number of arrests, the MoD spokeswoman said. The latest deaths bring the total number of British military casualties in Iraq since March 2003 to 158. Of those, 122 have been killed in action. On June 28, three British soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb attack in Basra. Britain has withdrawn hundreds of troops from Iraq, leaving a force of around 5,500 based mainly on the fringes of Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 340 miles south-east of Baghdad.