TWO Puma helicopters from RAF Benson in Oxfordshire have crashed in Iraq - killing two military personnel and seriously injuring another.

None of the casualties were from RAF Benson - the Ministry of Defence said they were from RAF St Athan in South Wales, the home of the UK Forces' Special Support Group.

It is understood the crash happened during a special forces mission, killing one person from the RAF and another from the Army - four others were injured, one seriously.

The crash north of Baghdad is being put down to an accident rather than to a ground to air attack from insurgents.

Defence Secretary Des Browne said: "There will be an investigation into the precise cause of the incident, but I should stress that Puma helicopters have a very good safety record."

The Ministry of Defence said the helicopters came down in the early hours of Sunday in a rural area near Taji, the site of a large US air base.

Two of the four injured have already been released and returned to their units but two others remain in a US military hospital.

No one was available for comment at RAF Benson which is the base for both Puma and Merlin helicopters.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was a "terrible time" for the families of those who had died but he said Britain's foreign policy was "justified and right".

The two deaths bring the total number of British fatalities since the 2003 invasion of Iraq to 142.

British troops have also been involved in further fighting with a Shia militia group in Basra, in southern Iraq.

Five gunmen from the Mehdi army militia are thought to have been killed in an exchange of fire.