- BAGHDAD (AP) -- One British
soldier was killed and a second was injured when their convoy was caught
between two crowds and fired on with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades
in the southern town of Ali as-Sharqi, the British military reported Thursday.
-
- Lt. Cmdr. Richard Walters said the shooting occurred
at Wednesday night as the soldiers were returning from a raid in Ali al-Gharbi.
-
- He said the soldiers met a crowd of about 30 people who
formed a roadblock.
-
- Soldiers moved around the crowd, only to be stopped by
a second crowd blocking the road near Fort Jennings.
-
- Mr. Walters said the soldiers got down from their vehicles,
fired two warning shots trying to disperse the groups when the Iraqi's
opened fire with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades, killing one
soldier and wounding the second in the hand.
-
- The British said they arrested 10 people among the crowds,
and withdrew to their base at al-Amarah, north of Basra with protection
from helicopters and additional rapid reaction troops called to the scene.
-
- The Wednesday death brings the British toll in the war
to 49, with 11 of them killed since May 1 when U.S. President George W.
Bush declared an end to major fighting.
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