British troops die in Basra crash

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press Saturday May 06, 2006 20:47 by pat c

A British helicopter has been shot down in Basra. An unknown number of British soldiers have been killed. In follow up "disturbances" British soldiers killed 5 Iraqis including 2 children.

Extract below. Full story at link.

pat c

British troops die in Basra crash

A number of British servicemen have died in a helicopter crash in southern Iraq, the Ministry of Defence has said. Police in Basra told reporters the aircraft crashed into a city centre house after being hit by a rocket. But new Defence Secretary Des Browne said the cause of the crash remained unclear, and he offered his sympathies to the families of those who had died.
[Hmmm no offer of sympathies to the Iraqi children killed. pat c]

Violent clashes in which some people were injured followed the crash, and an 8pm curfew was imposed by Iraqi police. Basra police later said five people, including two children, were killed and nineteen others were wounded after Iraqis clashed with British forces.