"There has been further fighting in the area of Basra in which a British serviceman has been killed and several injured," a ministry spokesman said, adding that the dead soldier's family was being informed.

A journalist for The Times of London, who is based in southern Kuwait, reported in a pool dispatch that the victim, a Royal Marine, died of wounds sustained in an Iraqi ambush.

The marine and several comrades had been in a river launch that came under grenade and gunfire attack, the reporter said, adding that the ambush occurred as 539 Assault Squadron Royal Marines continued clearing the waterways on the Fao peninsula.

The wounded marines were helicoptered out to a field hospital, where one later died, the journalist said.

The defence ministry in London told AFP that it could not yet confirm any details of the attack.

A total of 24 British soldiers have now been killed since the start of the US-led war on March 20 -- 14 in helicopter accidents, five in combat, and five as a result of "friendly fire," according to official counts of confirmed and suspected dead.

WAR.WIRE