British soldier shot dead in Iraq

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The soldier, from the 4th Battalion The Rifles, was part of a patrol conducting a search and detention operation in the Al Atiyah district, north west of Basra City, when he was shot by small arms fire, the MoD said.

The soldier is the 150th British forces fatality since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The Ministry of Defence said that the soldier was shot at 2.20am local time (11.20pm BST). He was airlifted to the British base at Basra Air Station for medical treatment but died at 03.40am (00.40am BST).

Three other coalition troops were injured during the operation but they are not believed to be in a life-threatening condition.

The dead soldier's next-of-kin have been informed and have asked for no further information to be released for 24 hours.

Separately, a British soldier killed in action in Afghanistan was named by the Ministry of Defence as Lance Corporal Paul Sandford, a member of the 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters.

He was shot during an operation to clear a Taliban compound in the Upper Gereshk Valley in Helmand Province early on Wednesday morning.

He was taken to a Nato base before being airlifted for medical treatment to Camp Bastion where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

L/Cpl Sandford, 23, from London, who married his wife Gaynor less just a year ago, is the 59th member of the British Forces to die in Afghanistan since the start of operations in November 2001.