BAGHDAD: Gunmen killed 18 Iraqi, British and American soldiers in attacks in Baghdad, Basra and near Mosul, officials said yesterday.
At least 52 people were killed in shootings, bombings and mortar attacks, including 20 men whose bullet-riddled bodies were brought to the hospital in Baquba a day after they were abducted at an illegal checkpoint.
Four British soldiers and an interpreter were killed by a roadside bomb that destroyed their armoured fighting vehicle when they were ambushed on the outskirts of Basra, said British military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Kevin Stratford-Wright.
"The unit was involved in an operation elsewhere. As they were on they way back from the operation it was targeted by a roadside bomb in conjunction with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades," he said from Basra.
The nationality of the interpreter was unknown.
"We heard two explosions that shook the house. I went out and saw one armoured vehicle that was completely destroyed and another with less damage," said one resident.
The British military denied accusations by Iraqi police that British troops had stormed a police checkpoint close to the scene of the attack shortly afterwards and beaten some police.
Six British soldiers have been killed in Iraq this week, making it one of the deadliest for British forces to date. Gunmen also killed 10 Iraqi soldiers and wounded one in an attack on their checkpoint near Mosul, an army source said.
The source said at least 40 gunmen attacked the checkpoint at dawn northwest of Mosul, setting vehicles on fire and seizing the soldiers' weapons.
"Apparently the soldiers were asleep when the attack happened. They were taken by surprise and did not have a chance to respond," said the army source.
Separately, four American soldiers were killed by two roadside bombs in and around Baghdad, the US military said. The US military also said an army helicopter with nine people on board went down south of Baghdad. Four were injured.
A statement did not give the cause of the incident or any other details. Witnesses reported seeing heavy gunfire force the aircraft down in an insurgent stronghold south of the capital.
