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British soldiers killed in Basra
BASRA, Iraq (CNN) -- Three British servicemen have been killed and another seriously wounded in Iraq's second city of Basra, military officials said. The soldiers were driving in central Basra in two vehicles -- a civilian four-wheel-drive carrying four soldiers and a military Land Rover -- when they were fired on, the military said. Witnesses said the four-wheel-drive vehicle came under small arms fire from an unknown number of men in a pickup truck. The soldiers' vehicle then veered off the road and crashed into a wall. All of the soldiers were in uniform. The deaths brought to 10 the number of Britons killed in combat since U.S. President George W. Bush declared major fighting over on May 1. With the latest violence, a total of 49 British service members have died in Iraq since the war began, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. The last combat killing of a British soldier was on August 14, when a roadside bomb hit an ambulance, killing one medic and wounding two other people. That killing occurred during a weekend of violent protests over electricity cuts and fuel shortages. CNN's Rym Brahimi said that although most anti-coalition violence has come in the so-called "Sunni triangle" around Baghdad, some Shia Muslims, while being more friendly to British troops around Basra, may not be happy at what they see as an occupation of their country. The British deaths came four days after a truck bomb demolished U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, killing at least 22 people including U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. His body was flown to Brazil for a memorial ceremony Saturday. U.N. staff resumed their work in Baghdad Saturday, four days after the blast. U.S. authorities now believe the bombing may have been an "inside job" and are questioning Iraqis. (Full story) Also on Saturday it was revealed that diplomats and staff at the British Embassy in Baghdad evacuated the building after a "credible threat" of attack. (Full story)
A Foreign Office spokesman in London said the staff were moved from the building Wednesday, a day after the devastating truck bombing at the U.N.'s Baghdad headquarters. "The embassy staff were moved to the Coalition Provisional Authority headquarters after information of a credible threat of attack," the spokesman said. "There are no immediate plans to return the staff to the embassy," he added. CNN correspondents Rym Brahimi and Barbara Starr and producer Marga Ortigas contributed to this report. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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