MoD releases names of dead servicemen
The three British Royal Military Police killed in Saturday’s ambush in Iraq have been named by the Ministry of Defence.
Major Matthew Titchener and Warrant Officer Colin Wall of the 150 Provost Company and Corporal Dewi Pritchard of the 116 Provost Company served with the 19 Mechanised Brigade.
A fourth soldier was also seriously wounded in the attack in Iraq’s second city of Basra.
The soldier’s identity has not yet been named.
Their bodies are due to be returned to Britain in the next three days.
Gunmen opened fire and a bomb was thrown at the soldiers’ vehicles, witnesses said, but the MoD stated that no evidence was to hand to suggest a bomb had been used.
The soldiers’ car smashed into a wall, injuring an Iraqi woman and two children.
The MoD said the “unprovoked” ambush took place around 08:30 local time (05:30 BST).
A Downing Street spokesman said: “Our thoughts are with the families at this time. This again shows the courage and risks taken by our armed forces to build a better Iraq.”
Charles Heyman, editor of Jane’s World Affairs, told Channel Four News that the seniority of the servicemen killed in the attack pointed to the work of an organised opposition movement.
“If you look at the importance of the people who were killed in this attack, then you begin to wonder if the opposition is a little more organised than we thought they were,” he said.
Conservative party defence spokesman Bernard Jenkin said British troops in Iraq were over-stretched.
“The number of operations we’ve been running far exceeds what the Government planned for. They are spending less, and they are under-recruited.
“There are a number of factors that mean we are over-stretched.”
