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British casualties in Iraq reached another grim milestone yesterday with the killing of a soldier in Basra, the 150th to die in the conflict.
The soldier was shot while taking part on a mission in the Al Atiyah district, northwest of the city. Three other soldiers were injured when they came under fire from machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The troops were searching for weapons.
Bombers struck in Baghdad and at a police headquarters in a northern Iraqi border town yesterday, killing 19 people, and gunmen shot a reporter in the latest attack targeting Iraqi journalists.
In the worst violence, a suicide bomber driving a truck packed with explosives rammed a police headquarters in the northern town of Rabea, killing nine people.
The town is northwest of Mosul, where US military commanders blame Sunni Arab insurgents and criminals for stoking much of the violence.
Iraqi security officials say Shi'ite and Kurdish militias are also involved.
In Mosul, gunmen shot dead Sahar al-Haideri, a journalist working for the independent Aswat al-Iraqi news agency. The agency said the married mother of three had been on a "death list" issued by an al Qaeda-led group.
Journalists have been dying in record numbers in Iraq, with at least 12 killed last month.
- INDEPENDENT, REUTERS
