British forces freed two British soldiers from jail in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Monday, a British embassy spokeswoman confirmed.

She gave no details of how they were freed and could not confirm that British forces had crushed the walls of a jail with tanks.

Basra police said the men, who were wearing plain clothes, were detained earlier Monday after they opened fire on Iraqi police.

Dozens of Iraqi prisoners at the jail reportedly escaped at the same time.

Source: Xinhua