SCARY

Six British military police killed in southern Iraq were slain by armed townspeople angry over civilian deaths during a demonstration, local police said Wednesday.

Abbas Faddhel, an Iraqi policeman in the town, said the British troops had shot and killed four civilian demonstrators on Tuesday.

Armed civilians then killed two of the British soldiers at the scene of the demonstration -- in front of the mayor's office -- and then chased four other British soldiers to a police station, killing them after a two-hour gunbattle, Faddhel said.

A second incident on Tuesday also involved a fierce firefight between Iraqis and British troops occupying southern Iraq. That one wounded eight British soldiers, three of them seriously.

A two-hour gun battle? Where was their backup?

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