Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    LONDON, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Three British soldiers were killed and the other seriously injured by a roadside bomb while on patrol in southern Iraq Thursday, the British Ministry of Defense confirmed.

    The troops came under attack in the Al Antahiya district of the southern city of Basra at about 1 a.m. local time (2100 GMT), the ministry said in a statement.

    "It is with deep regret that we can confirm that three soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device this morning," the statement said.

    They had dismounted from their Warrior armored vehicle when insurgents set off the improvised explosive device.

    The soldiers were serving as part of a British contingent in the multi-national forces in the southeast of Iraq, said the ministry.

    The deaths brought the number of British troops that have died since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to 156.

    Britain has withdrawn hundreds of troops from Iraq, leaving a force of around 5,500 based mainly on the fringes of Basra, 550 km southeast of Baghdad.