Four British soldiers killed in Iraq

By Dean Yates and Ross Colvin

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Roadside bombs killed eight British and American soldiers and gunmen shot dead 10 Iraqi troops in one of the bloodiest 24 hours in Iraq for coalition and Iraqi security forces in recent months.

Four British soldiers and an interpreter were killed by a roadside bomb that destroyed their armoured fighting vehicle when they were ambushed on the outskirts of Basra, said British military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Kevin Stratford-Wright.

"The unit was involved in an operation elsewhere. As they were on their way back from the operation it was targeted by a roadside bomb in conjunction with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades," he said from Basra.

The nationality of the interpreter was not clear, he said.

The British military denied accusations by Iraqi police that British troops had stormed a police checkpoint close to the scene of the attack shortly afterwards and beaten some police.

Six British soldiers have been killed in Iraq this week, making it one of the deadliest for British forces to date.

At least 140 British soldiers have been killed since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. More than 3,260 U.S. soldiers have been killed.

Gunmen also killed 10 Iraqi soldiers and wounded one in an attack on Thursday on their checkpoint near Mosul, an army source said.