British forces killed eight gunmen laying landmines in the volatile southern city of Basra, the British military said. The military said the eight had been operating in an area where four British soldiers and their civilian translator were killed in a huge roadside bomb blast that destroyed their Warrior armoured fighting vehicle earlier this month. "It is not possible to directly link those killed last night with last week's roadside bombs. However, these militiamen were intent upon launching exactly the same type of attack in the same area," British military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Kevin Stratford-Wright said. Basra is a port city that is the hub of Iraq's biggest oil fields. Shi'ite factions are battling for control of its oil revenues and criminal gangs are also a menace.