Broken glass is seen on the ground at the British base in Basra's airport, 31 Jan 2008

Rockets have slammed into a British base in southern Iraq, wounding at least two British soldiers.

A British military spokesman in Basra, Captain Finn Aldrich, says no major damage was reported on the base, but added that one of the rockets landed outside the entry gates for Iraqi civilian employees. A number of Iraqi casualties were reported.

British forces handed over control of Basra to Iraqi forces in mid-December as warnings rose that it could descend into violent turf wars between rival Shi'ite Militias.

In a predominantly Shi'ite area in Baghdad, at least three people were killed when a parked car bomb exploded. An Iraqi police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said passers-by were among the wounded.

Four other roadside bombings in Baghdad Thursday claimed the lives of at least seven people, including one American soldier, and wounded six others.

Separately, U.S. military officials say coalition forces have detained five suspected terrorists during operations to disrupt al-Qaida networks operating in northern Iraq.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.