Bomb kills two British soldiers in Iraq

LONDON - Two British soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Iraq on Monday, the UK's Ministry of Defence said.

The latest deaths bring to 94 the number of British soldiers to have died in Iraq since the US-led invasion of the country in March 2003.

"Two soldiers from MND SE (British-led Multi-National Division South East) died this morning at 11.30 local time from injuries sustained in a roadside bomb explosion in Basra province," a ministry spokeswoman said.

Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq said it was behind the attack, according to an internet statement.

"Your brothers ... set off an explosive device against a patrol of British crusaders in Basra province, destroying a military Jeep and killing two of them," said the al Qaeda statement, posted on an Islamist website. Its authenticity could not be verified.

Britain, the leading US ally in the Iraq war, has around 8,500 soldiers in Iraq.

- REUTERS