Militants fired rockets into a British forces base in Iraq's southern oil town of Basra this evening, killing two contractors and wounding four civilians, according to a statement by the US military.
It said British forces had returned fire and that US forces killed the six militants behind the attack in an air strike. The statement did not give the nationalities of the contractors.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on militiamen in Basra at the end of March, mostly targeting fighters loyal to anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
This is the first indirect rocket attack causing casualties in Basra since March 27.