Britons burned to death in car after Basra gun battle

Published on 07/03/2006 01:26

TWO British men were burned to death in their car after a shoot-out with police in Iraq yesterday. A third person in the car, also believed to be British, was wounded and rushed away from the scene, in the southern city of Basra. Police Captain Mushtaq Kadhim said Iraqi policemen and two other civilians were also wounded in the shooting.

A Foreign Office spokesman said he was aware of unsubstantiated reports of an incident involving non-Arabs. The Ministry of Defence said it was aware of reports of an incident in Basra and was making inquiries.

A ministry spokesman said no British military personnel had been involved in any incident or injured yesterday.

According to Mr Kadhim, the attack occurred about 9pm local time after a police patrol chased two suspicious cars and forced them to stop in the Jazaer neighbourhood of central Basra.