British Soldier Injured in Blast

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

http://www.news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2155555

A British soldier was injured when a land mine exploded in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, witnesses said today.

Two Land Rovers were driving by the city’s Teaching Hospital on their way to the main Army base in one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces when the blast occurred, said Abbas Muslim, a police officer on the scene.

Rebel attacks against the US-led coalition continued elsewhere in Iraq today, a day after a senior US official said that the military has the upper hand in the escalating war in Iraq.

The US military said that a soldier from the 1st Armoured Division died and another was wounded when their vehicle struck a mine in Baghdad’s Wehda district late last night.

Two paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division died also yesterday when a home-made bomb exploded beside their vehicle in Fallujah.

Their deaths brought to 36 the number of American soldiers who have died in Iraq this month.
<snip>

Notice the Brits are calling the land mines what they are instead of the US trying to minimalize by calling them "improvised explosive devices?" Kind of makes them sound as if they are cherry bombs with a cigarette fuse.

[izzie]

1. Endless us one death runs into the next.

Someone need to keep a good record.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

2. I'm hoping there are people other than the defense department

doing just that.

[IndianaGreen]

3. Sky News: Roadside Blast in Basra

ROADSIDE BLAST IN BASRA

A British Army vehicle was damaged by homemade explosive in an attack in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

There were no casualties in the incident, and the four-tonne lorry and a second truck were able to return to base without assistance, an MoD spokesman said.

<snip>

In a separate incident at the weekend, two soldiers suffered minor injuries in a traffic accident in Basra.

News of the attack came as Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon played down the security threat faced by British troops in the south of the country, largely populated by Shia Muslims who suffered under the rule of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-12921906,00.html