Two British soldiers have been killed by a roadside bomb in southern Iraq, the Ministry of Defence said this morning.

The two soldiers, whose names have not been released, "died from injuries sustained by a roadside bomb at approximately 11:30 am (0830 BST) in Basra province," according to a statement.

The Ministry of Defence gave no further details, but agency reports said that a British armoured Land Rover was travelling five miles east of Shaibah, near Basra, when it hit a bomb.

Tony Blair was being informed of the deaths of the British servicemen while he was in Beijing, where he was attending an EU-China summit. Mr Blair’s official spokesman said: "We will watch developments with sadness, as whenever attacks like this occur in Iraq."

The deaths take the number of British service personnel who have died in Iraq since the start of hostilities in March 2003 to 94.

There have been 55 killed in action, the Ministry of Defence said. The rest died in accidents, or of natural causes or illness, or are still under investigation.

A further casualty, Acting Chief Petty Officer Simon Roger Owen, 38, died of natural causes aboard HMS Chatham on December 17 last year while on patrol in the Gulf. HMS Chatham was not assigned to Operation Telic - the name given to the British operation in Iraq.

There are 8,500 British soldiers currently serving in the country, mainly in the southern provinces near Basra.

At least 1,888 members of the US military have died during the same period, according to an Associated Press count, which is five higher than the number recorded by the Defence Department.

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