Explosion near Basra base

An explosion has taken place near a coalition forces base in central Basra, the Ministry of Defence said.

Major Niall Greenwood, who is based at Basra International Airport, said the incident was under investigation.

There are not thought to be any Iraqi or coalition force casualties at this stage, Maj Greenwood said.

The Ministry of Defence in London said they were "aware of an explosion 200 to 300 metres north of a British base in Basra."

Maj Greenwood said: "We are aware of an incident. It's an explosion that happened at about 9.30pm local time.

"It's near, but not at, one of our coalition force bases.

"There doesn't appear to be any coalition force involvement. There doesn't appear to be any Iraqi or coalition force casualties."

Maj Greenwood said it was too soon to speculate whether terrorism was the cause of the blast.

"We're sending someone to look at it," he said. "It's too early to say."

The base is home to 19 Brigade headquarters.

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