Thursday April 5, 2007


Four British soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb attack in southern Iraq last night, the Ministry of Defence said today.

A Kuwaiti interpreter was also killed, and a fifth British solider seriously wounded in the incident, which happened during a patrol west of Basra.

The latest fatalities bring the British death toll in Iraq for the last few days to six, making it the worst week for British casualties since 10 British personnel died when an RAF Hercules plane crashed outside Baghdad on January 30 2005.

Today's casualties were the worst loss in a single incident since four British service personnel were killed in an attack on a coalition boat patrol last November.

Captain Katie Brown, a spokeswoman for the British military in Basra, said the patrol was attacked at about 2am local time in the Hayaniya district, west of Basra.

In London, an MoD spokeswoman said: "It is with deep regret that we can confirm that four British soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in a roadside bomb attack against a Warrior patrol west of Basra this morning. Next of kin are being informed and no further details will be released until this process is complete."

The total death toll of British service personnel in Iraq since hostilities began now stands at 140, 109 of whom died in action.

The first of the recent fatalities was Kingsman Danny John Wilson, 28, of Chindip Company, 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, who died on Sunday after he was hit by small arms fire during a patrol in Basra city. The soldier, from Workington, Cumbria, was taken to the multinational Basra palace base, where he later died of his injuries.

The following day, Rifleman Aaron Lincoln, 18, from Durham died after coming under attack from small arms fire while on a routine patrol in the al-Ashar district of central Basra. The serviceman, of the 2nd Battalion, the Rifles, were also evacuated to Basra palace and then to the field hospital at Basra air station but died later.