Iraq bomb kills British soldier
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A British military convoy has been hit by a roadside bomb on a southern Iraq highway, killing one British soldier and wounding several others.
The incident happened at 10:30 a.m. (2:30 a.m. EDT) Sunday along the al-Kahla highway about 25 miles south of Amara, according to Amara Police Brigadier General Isma'il.
British forces sealed off the scene of the attack and a helicopter was brought in to evacuate the injured.
"We can confirm that there has been a hostile attack against British troops from Task Force Maysan which has resulted in a fatality," a UK Ministry of Defence spokesman told CNN.
He said the incident was being investigated, adding that the military would release more details after informing next of kin.
The British soldier was the 50th killed in action in Iraq, the ministry told Reuters.
The town of Amara is a flashpoint for insurgency against British forces in Iraq, the UK's Press Association reported.
It is in Maysan province, at the northern end of the British-controlled sector on the Iranian border. That area has been the scene of some of the British army's most fierce fighting with insurgents in the last two years, PA said.
Earlier this month the MoD said that there had been a reduction in the level of attacks since the Iraqi elections in January, but the insurgents continued to pose a threat to coalition forces.
The last British soldier who died in Iraq was also killed in the same area. Guardsman Anthony John Wakefield, 24, of the 1st Battalion The Coldstream Guards, died on May 2 after a home-made bomb exploded while he was patrol near Amara.
After his death, his wife Ann Toward blamed Prime Minister Tony Blair, saying he would not have died if Blair had not sent troops into war.
CNN producer Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report
