LONDON, March 20 (Xinhuanet) -- British troops in Iraq have been supplied with blank rounds instead of live ammunition during the occupation of Iraq, the British Independent on Sunday newspaper quoted a parliamentary report as saying.

    The failure has put the lives of soldiers at risk, said the Commons Defense Select Committee in a report on "post-conflict operations" in Iraq, according to the paper.

    The report, which was expected to publish on Thursday, said that inability to provide body armor and medical supplies in sufficient quantities were also understood to be among logistical shortcomings identified by the committee.

    "Woeful intelligence" left British soldiers expecting garlands of flowers, the report would say. Instead, soldiers found themselves facing a hostile people hardened by a bombing campaign against them.

    It would also point out that there was also a failure to realize how quickly occupation would turn to peacekeeping, and then to civilian policing, a role for which most soldiers were illprepared.

    News of the findings by the committee came as an audit of the cost of the war by the paper shows 110 British lives have been lost Iraq, including 86 military personnel.

    Another 2,937 have been medically evacuated, of whom 824 were suffering mental illness, the paper said.

    Britain, a staunch US ally on Iraq, is now positioning about 9,000 troops in Iraq. Enditem