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The British government confirmed Monday that 13 British soldiers had been wounded in two blasts during a demonstration in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
In a statement to the House of Commons, lower house of the parliament, British Defense Minister Adam Ingram said that the violence took place on Monday morning and early reports suggested that none of the injuries was life-threatening.
"We can confirm reports of two explosions in central Basra which appear to have been targeted against coalition forces," Ingram told the lawmakers.
"The incident occurred near a demonstration in the city but there is no indication at this stage that this was linked," Ingram said. "We are not aware of any Iraqi civilians or police being injured."
According to the British Ministry of Defense, the 13 soldiers had been evacuated to a nearby British military hospital at Shaibah, and their families were being informed.
Earlier reports quoted a military spokesman in Basra as saying that stones and petrol bombs were hurled at the British soldiers during the demonstration and "public disorder" was still going on when the blasts occurred.
The BBC quoted Colonel Zafer Abdel-Nabi, chief of Basra customs police, as reporting that nine of those injured had been caught in the blast of a grenade thrown by a protester.
About 500 demonstrators had been protesting at their failure to get jobs with the local customs police, Abdel-Nabi was quoted as saying.
Basra is the headquarters for 9,000 British troops who have occupied southern Iraq since the US-led invasion on March 20 last year.
(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2004)
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