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UK soldier killed in Iraq reported to be SAS officer

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, March 27, IRNA
UK-Iraq
The British soldier killed in Iraq on Wednesday was a member of the UK's special forces, it was reported Thursday.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD), which does not comment officially on the activities of the SAS, said only that a British soldier was shot and killed in Iraq.

Uncommonly it did not state where in the country he was killed.

But according to the Guardian newspaper, quoting sources, he was an SAS soldier and was killed in a gunfight during a covert operation in the Baghdad area.

The MoD said the soldier died as a result of gunshot wounds "sustained during a firefight in the early hours of Wednesday," but indicated that he was not killed in Basra, where 4,100 of the 4,300 British troops still in Iraq are based.

None of soldiers based at Basra airport have combat roles.

Apart from the unknown number of SAS officers operating in the country, there are also some 200 British soldiers in Baghdad, mainly on guard duty.

The latest death brings the total number of British military fatalities in Iraq to 176 since the 2003 invasion.

Up until the end of 2007, another 212 British troops have been very seriously or seriously injured.

The only other SAS deaths reported in Iraq were two killed in a Puma helicopter crash last November during an anti-insurgency mission on the outskirts of Baghdad.

The daily reported that SAS patrols have been operating in Iraq since before the invasion.

It said there was a squadron of about 60 from 22 SAS Regiment, based about 50 miles from Baghdad, often working with US special forces.

Last month, a member of the SAS who recently resigned after being assigned to Iraq, accused the UK government of being "deeply involved" with the US in the extraordinary rendition of terrorist suspects to torture camps.

"Throughout my time in Iraq I was in no doubt that individuals detained by UKSF (special forces) and handed over to our American colleagues would be tortured," Ben Griffin told a news conference in London on February 25.

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