SEVEN British soldiers were shot in Basra last year by the same sniper rifle, the Ministry of Defence said last night.
The soldiers were picked off on the streets of the southern Iraqi city over several months.
A spokesman for the MoD said Rifleman Aaron Lincoln, 18, Kingsman Danny Wilson, 28, Kingsman Alan Jones, 20, Corporal Rodney Wilson, 30, Rifleman Paul Don
nachie, 18, and two others who have not yet been named, were all killed by the same weapon.
But the MoD spokesman said he could not verify that a single gunman was responsible for the killing.
Earlier yesterday, an inquest into the death of Rifleman Lincoln of the 2nd Battalion, The Rifles, heard that he died from a single bullet wound while he was on patrol on 2 April, 2007.
The court heard that the American-made high velocity bullet penetrated his protective glasses and helmet.
Ann Kiernan, a ballistics expert of LGC Forensics, told the inquest in Spennymoor, Co Durham: "There had been six incidents from March to June where projectiles had all been discharged from the same rifle," she said. She added that the bullets were manufactured in the US by Lake City Arsenal.
Andrew Tweddle, the coroner, said Ms Kiernan "has been able to corroborate and confirm that this single weapon in Basra has been responsible for a number of fatalities."
He recorded a narrative verdict of unlawful killing.
The full article contains 243 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
