Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Three British soldiers were killed and one other wounded by a roadside bomb attack early on Thursday, British military said.

    The three soldiers were killed at about 1:00 a.m. (0900 GMT) on Thursday when they were conducting a foot-patrol in southeastern Basra, some 550 km south of Baghdad, a military statement said.

    The fourth soldier was seriously injured by the blast and was receiving treatment at a military field hospital in the city, it added.

    Up to 156 British soldiers have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion broke out in March 2003.

    Britain has pulled out 1,600 of its troops from Iraq, leaving roughly 5,500 troops based mainly in Iraq's second largest city of Basra.