British Soldier Wounded in Iraq ; BRITAIN/INTERNATIONAL

Mar 29, 01:41 AM

Current Headlines: A BRITISH soldier is being treated for gunshot wounds after an attack in southern Iraq, the Ministry of Defence said last night.

The soldier, who has not been named, was successfully airlifted to a field hospital despite a further insurgent attack on the helicopter as it took off in Basra.

The serviceman had been on patrol in the Iraqi second city when he came under attack from small-arms fire earlier in the day, a spokeswoman said.

He suffered gunshot wounds but his injuries are not thought to be life threatening, she added.

British troops opened fire on a gunman who attacked a helicopter as the wounded soldier was being airlifted.

Shiite militants and police enraged by massive truck bombings in the northwestern town of Tal Afar yesterday went on a revenge spree against Sunni residents there, killing as many as 6o people, officials said.

The gunmen began roaming Sunni neighbourhoods in the city on Tuesday and continued until yesterday, shooting at residents and homes, according to police and a Sunni official.

Witnesses said relatives of the Shiite victims in the truck bombings broke into the Sunni homes and either killed the men or dragged them outside and shot them in the streets.

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