British soldier killed in Basra

Earlier, the three RAF servicemen killed in a mortar attack on their Iraqi base were named by the Ministry of Defence. They are: Matthew Caulwell, Christopher Dunsmore and Peter McFerran, all Senior Aircraftsmen.

The men died after the Contingency Operating Base in Basra came under fire on Thursday.

Two of the servicemen were from 1 Squadron RAF Regiment, while the other was from 504 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force.

An MoD spokeswoman said they were killed in an "indirect fire attack".

The deaths bring the total number of British military casualties since hostilities in Iraq began to 163.

Of those, 127 died in action. The rest of the deaths were accidents or linked to natural causes, illness, remain unexplained, or are still under investigation.

The MoD spokeswoman would not comment further on the circumstances of the RAF servicemen's deaths or whether the men were evacuated or died at the scene.

Major Mike Shearer, the UK military spokesman in Basra, condemned the insurgents as "morally anorexic" and said the base had come under attack from roadside insurgents who fired indiscriminately.

He said: "There doesn't appear to be a lot of science involved in firing these munitions."