AMMARA, March 6: A shootout between British troops and a militia left two civilians dead in southern Iraq on Friday. Gen Ismail Kazem Adhar, chief of police in Maysan province, said British troops clashed with the Badr Organization , the armed wing of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), one of the main Shia-dominated political parties in the country.

"A person opened fire (on) Friday on a British patrol before taking shelter inside the local office of Badr organization" in Qalat Salah, Gen Adhar said.

At that moment, a procession of Shias stumbled upon the soldiers and attacked them, destroying a British military vehicle, the official added.-AFP