Six British soldiers killed yesterday were shot dead by Iraqi civilians angry at intrusive searches for weapons in a conservative Shi'ite Muslim town in southern Iraq, residents said today.
The British government said six soldiers were killed and eight wounded in two separate incidents yesterday near the city of Amarah, some 200 kilometres north of Iraq's British-controlled second city, Basra.
Witnesses in the town of Majjar, 30 kilometres south of Amarah, said the six were killed by residents after days of tension because of methods a British force used to search for heavy weapons.
At least two Iraqis died in yesterday's clash at Majjar, residents said, adding that the British opened fire with plastic bullets to control a crowd after days of tension.
Residents said the soldiers first came to the town to search for weapons on June 21st. They burst into houses with dogs sniffing for weapons and with guns pointing at women and children.
After complaints from locals the British force agreed to halt the intrusive inspections, but two days later they returned with the same attitude, the residents said.
The Iraqis asked to stop the searches and promised to hand over weapons within two months, they said.
When the soldiers returned yesterday, thousands took to the streets to protest. The British forces opened fire with plastic bullets to control the crowd. Iraqis, believing the British were firing live bullets, fired from their AK-47s, killing the soldiers. Residents said at least two Iraqis were also killed.
Prime Minister Tony Blair told parliament today that the soldiers may have run into problems as they tried to disarm the local population.
"There is a background to do with the attempts by Britishforces to make sure the local population, who regularly carry machine guns and small firearms, were disarmed of those weapons," he said.
"There had been problems in relation to that. That may formpart of the background to it but at the moment it's simply too early to say."
Mr Blair said that within 24 hours, he expected to be able to say more about the group that attacked the forces.
A UK military spokesman, Ronnie McCourt, said thekilling of the military police officers in the southern town of Majjar was unprovoked murder.