Female staff sergeant among UK Basra dead
Tuesday, 14 Nov 2006 19:56
Staff Sergeant Sharron Elliott was among those who died
The names of the four British troops who were killed when their boat patrol was targeted by insurgents in southern Iraq have been released by defence officials.
All four were killed on Sunday when the boat they were travelling in was attacked with a bomb near a pontoon bridge in the Shatt Al-Arab waterway, which cuts through Basra.
And today, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has revealed that one of those killed was 34-year-old Staff Sergeant Sharron Elliott of the Intelligence Corps, who becomes only the second female member of the UK forces to die in Iraq.
Warrant Officer Lee Hopkins, 35, of The Royal Corps of Signals, Corporal Ben Nowak, 27, of the 45 Commando Royal Marines, and Marine Jason Hylton, 33, of 539 Assault Squadron Royal Marines, also died.
The troops were killed at about 13:50 BST local time (10:50 GMT) while their boat was travelling north towards the Shatt al-Arab hotel, a British Army base on the river, just hours after a Remembrance Day service in the city.
Three other British troops suffered serious injuries in the attack, which has been blamed on rogue Shia militias in an area previously viewed as less violent than more northern parts of Iraq.
Sunday's deaths bring the total number of British fatalities in the wartorn country to 125 and come at a time when there appears to be a notable shift in public opinion about the continued presence of allied troops in Iraq following the 2003 US-led invasion.
Prime minister Tony Blair is today expected to call for the assistance of Iran and Syria in the rebuilding of Iraq, while US president George Bush has admitted that he is ready to listen to new ideas after his Republican party suffered humiliating losses in this month's midterm elections.