BAGHDAD/ MOSUL, April 5: Six American and four British soldiers were killed in separate attacks in Iraq, coalition forces announced on Thursday, as a US helicopter also crashed south of Baghdad wounding four personnel.

The four British soldiers and a civilian interpreter in the same vehicle were killed outside the southern city of Basra in a complex attack involving a roadside bomb, small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

Another soldier was seriously wounded.

“It is with deep regret that we can confirm that four British soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in a roadside bomb attack against a Warrior patrol west of Basra this morning,” said the Ministry of Defence in London.

British Lieutenant-Colonel Kevin Stratford-Wright said the patrol repelled an initial attack from gunmen, hitting at least one assailant with return fire, before moving out of the urban area and coming under attack again.

West of Basra, the unit was hit by a roadside bomb, followed up with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, he said.

“During that (roadside bomb) attack the five people were killed, all of whom were in the same vehicle. A further soldier who was in the vehicle is very seriously wounded,” he said.

The dead interpreter was a Kuwaiti visa holder but not a Kuwaiti citizen. In London Prime Minister Tony Blair lamented the deaths of the four soldiers as Britain celebrated the return of 15 British sailors from Iran.

“Just as we rejoice at the return of our 15 personnel, so today we also grieve and mourn for the loss of our soldiers in Basra who were killed as a result of a terrorist act,” he said.

Thursday’s attack was the deadliest suffered by British forces in Iraq since four servicemen were killed last November when their patrol boat was hit by a bomb in the Shatt al-Arab waterway.

SEVEN IRAQI SOLDIERS DIE: Meanwhile, gunmen on Thursday attacked a group of Iraqi soldiers based outside the restive northern city of Mosul, killing at least seven in the ambush, security officials said.