Gunmen kill 18 Iraqi, foreign troops

Baghdad: In the past 24 hours, gunmen have killed 18 Iraqi, British and American soldiers in attacks, officials said on Thursday, in Baghdad, Basra and near the northern city of Mosul.

Four British soldiers and an interpreter were killed by a roadside bomb that destroyed their armoured fighting vehicle when they were ambushed on the outskirts of Basra, said British military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Kevin Stratford-Wright.

"The unit was involved in an operation elsewhere. As they were on they way back from the operation it was targeted by a roadside bomb in conjunction with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades," he said from Basra.

The nationality of the interpreter was unknown.

Gunmen also killed 10 Iraqi soldiers and wounded one in an attack on Thursday on their checkpoint near Mosul, an army source said.

The source said at least 40 gunmen attacked the checkpoint at dawn northwest of Mosul, setting vehicles on fire and seizing the soldiers' weapons.

Four American soldiers were killed by two roadside bombs in and around Baghdad on Wednesday, the US military said.