UK troops 'suffering' in Iraq heat

UK troops patrol Basra streets

The Ministry of Defence says it is doing all it can to alleviate conditions for thousands of British service personnel in Iraq who are battling temperatures of up to 49C (120F).

A group of soldiers from units within 19 Brigade told The Herald newspaper that they were without cool water and were having to use fly-infested chemical toilets.

They said the heat was so intense it was seriously affecting the efficiency of troops, with many suffering heat exhaustion.

The MoD admitted the living conditions for the 12,000 servicemen and women currently in southern Iraq was a serious issue.

One military policeman told the newspaper he had to be evacuated recently with "heat prostration", adding that there were 40 others with the same condition on his flight.

Another corporal said: "If you can't sleep because of the heat, your efficiency and general health decline rapidly. People are in a state of collapse after three or four days.

"Most of us are still 'bird bathing' in water from bowser trucks poured into metal or plastic basins."

'Improving'

The troops said they were having to cope with the same basic facilities they had at the start of the war, despite the dramatic rise in temperatures.

An MoD spokeswoman said the military was "constantly trying to improve living conditions".

She said: "Given the intensity of the heat out there, we are doing our very best to improve conditions for our troops to ensure that they acclimatise to the heat."

Briton takes over in Basra

Major hostilities in Iraq ended in May but the country continues to be unstable, with 50 US soldiers having been killed since then.

On Monday one US soldier was killed and three wounded in a grenade attack in central Baghdad.

It has been announced that a British diplomat is to take over the administration of southern Iraq, including its second city of Basra.

The administrative region, one of four such zones in Iraq, includes both Basra and the port town of Umm Qasr.

Sir Hilary Synnott, currently the High Commissioner to Pakistan, will arrive in Basra in the next few days.