Three British soldiers were killed by gunmen in the southern port of Basra. "A serious incident took place in central Basra at 8:30 this morning. We can confirm that three British servicemen have been killed and one seriously injured," a coalition spokesman said Saturday. "The casualty has been taken to the hospital for treatment." Witnesses and a British major earlier said that three British soldiers and as many as four Iraqi civilians had been wounded when coalition troops came under fire. The soldiers, driving a Ford four-wheel drive, were ambushed by gunmen in a white Toyota flatbed truck near the old British cemetery, said street seller Sabir Naama, 48. The soldiers came under a hail of bullets, with only the driver still alive when British troops pulled them out of the smashed-up, blood-stained vehicle, Naama said. His body had been cushioned by the vehicle's airbag when the Ford collided into the building, he said. Neither were the British safe in Baghdad where its diplomats were evacuated from their embassy compound the day after the bombing of the United Nations headquarters amid rumours of an attack. It is not clear when they will move back as staff re-evaluate security in the wake of this month's bombings against the UN headquarters and Jordanian mission, an embassy staffer said. In Tuz Kharmato, 110 miles north of Baghdad, U.S. soldiers killed two Turkmen tribesmen and wounded two others. Josslyn Aberle, 4th Infantry Division spokeswoman said the Americans came under fire as they arrived to put down an outbreak of ethnic fighting Friday. There were unconfirmed reports that deadly clashes between the Turkomen and Kurds erupted after minority Kurds allegedly destroyed a newly reopened Turkmen Islamic shrine. The reports claimed there were five Turkmen and three Kurds killed and eleven injured in the fighting. Iraqi Turkmens are an ethnic minority with strong ties to neighboring Turkey. They live in Iraq's north and northeast. **Annan Appoints New UN Interim in Iraq*** UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed Ramiro Lopes da Silva as interim United Nations special representative in Iraq. Lopes da Silva is from Portugal and he was previously the UN humanitarian co-ordinator in Iraq. The 54-year-old is an experienced diplomat who has been working for the UN's humanitarian and food aid programmes for nearly 20 years. Lopes da Silva was himself injured in Tuesday's bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad. **PHOTO CAPTION*** British army soldiers arrest a suspected attacker during a night operation in Basra August 15, 2003. (REUTERS/Suhaib Salem)