British troops in Iraq passed a bloody milestone this week with the killing of soldier Alan Joseph Jones, 20, a gunner on a Warrior fighting vehicle, who was shot dead by gunmen in the southern city of Basra.
A total of 11 British soldiers have been killed in Iraq so far this month, the highest number of casualties suffered by British forces in a single month since March 2003, when 27 were killed in the opening days of the US-led invasion.
Analysts say that with British troops poised to begin reducing their numbers in Basra in the coming months, Shi'ite militias are increasing their attacks so that they can claim victory when British forces eventually pull out.
The deaths come in a month in which British forces have handed over a third province to Iraqi security control and pulled out from the third of five military bases in and around the port city of Basra, the hub of Iraq's southern oil fields. They are also preparing to reduce their 7,000-strong force in Basra to about 5,500 by the beginning of June.
While some senior British officers say they are facing a stepped-up campaign by militias, British military spokesman Major David Gell said on Wednesday the latest figures showed there had actually been a drop-off in the number of attacks. Basra has not experienced the sectarian violence seen in Baghdad, but Shia militias, particularly radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army, are a powerful force in the city and have frequently attacked foreign troops.
British bases have been struck almost daily by mortar fire and patrols hit by roadside bombs and machinegun fire. Jones was shot in Basra on Monday. In the worst single attack this month, four soldiers were killed when their Warrior was blown up.
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