Same weapon killed 7 UK soldiers in Iraq

LONDON (Reuters) - Seven British soldiers shot dead in Iraq this year were probably killed by the same sniper using the same U.S.-made weapon, a British coroner said on Friday.

The coroner, David Masters, was speaking a day after recording a verdict of unlawful killing in the death of Rodney Wilson, a British soldier shot by insurgents while on patrol in the southern Iraqi city of Basra in June.

Masters said evidence given during Wilson's inquest showed that six other British soldiers killed in the three months before Masters were more than likely killed by the same sniper using the same weapon.

"In terms of the markings on the fragments found, an expert forensic scientist concluded that they were fired from the same weapon," Masters told Reuters.

The weapon was probably an M16 or an M4 Carbine, both high-powered U.S.-made assault rifles, he said.

The fact that the fatal bullets were probably fired from an American weapon is notable as the vast majority of insurgents in Iraq use Russian-designed AK-47 rifles.

Insurgent snipers have often attacked both U.S. and British troops operating in Iraq, though it is not believed that a single sniper has previously shot as many as seven soldiers, whether British or American.

The forensic expert told the inquest that the weapon had not been killed or wounded any British troops since Wilson's death, the coroner said.

At least 174 British troops have died in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion. In the same period, 3,896 U.S. troops have died, as have 134 servicemen from other nations fighting as part of the U.S.-led coalition.

(Reporting by Luke Baker; Editing by Tim Pearce)