One British soldier was killed and another wounded during fighting with Iraqi militia forces in the southern Iraq on Tuesday, the British army said. The fighting occurred in Basra _ the Iraqi city where most of Britain's 8,300 troops in Iraq are based _ and involved militants loyal to militant Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, said Maj. Ian Clooney, the British army spokesman in Basra. He said the dead soldier's name and age would not be released until his next of kin had been informed. The second soldier suffered non-life threatening wounds and was being treated, Clooney said. In Basra, witnesses said at least one militant was killed and another wounded in a series of clashes throughout the city Tuesday. Al-Sadr militants also attacked a pair of civilian cars reportedly carrying Britons, destroying the vehicles and wounding two people, Iraqi police Col. Kareem Sadkhan said in Basra. Sadkhan said those inside the vehicle exchanged fire with the militants, wounding one and a bystander. Squadron Leader Spike Wilson, another British military spokesman, reported three British civilian vehicles were damaged in a roadside bomb attack in Basra, but he could not confirm the nationalities of the occupants. Wilson said he had no reports of injuries. -- SPA 2332 Local Time 2032 GMT
