British soldier killed in action

A British soldier was killed in action near Al Zubayr in southern Iraq last night, military sources said.

The soldier, from the 1st Battalion The Black Watch, was the second British combat fatality.

A British military source at Allied Central Command in Qatar said: “His next of kin have been informed and at the request of his family his name will not be released.”

His death follows that of a British soldier who died from his wounds yesterday after being shot while trying to calm civilian rioting at Al Zubayr on Sunday.

He was named today as 33-year-old married father Sergeant Steven Roberts, who was from Bradford in West Yorkshire.

Al Zubayr is 15 miles west of Basra, Iraq’s second city, where British forces have been engaged in heavy fighting.

The total number of British deaths in the war so far is now 18.