British troops hurt in Basra blast

Thirteen British soldiers were injured today following explosions in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the Ministry of Defence said.

The blasts occurred near a demonstration in the city, although there was no immediate indication that they were linked.

A MoD spokesman said that the attackers appeared to have deliberately targeted coalition forces.

There were no reports of Iraqi civilians or police being wounded.

The injured troops were taken to the Shaibah military hospital on the outskirts of the city. Their injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.

The British soldiers were reported to have fired tear gas at around 500 Iraqi demonstrators protesting at their failure to get jobs with the local customs police.

The chief of Basra customs, Colonel Zafer Abdel-Nabi, said that the demonstrators thrown rocks, petrol bombs and a grenade at the troops.

Nine of the the soldiers were wounded in a grenade explosion, he said.

Some demonstrators were reported to have shouted slogans in support of Saddam Hussein and protesting at Israel's killing of Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin in Gaza City.

According to witnesses they chanted: "We are all sons of Yassin".