Video shows ‘suicide attack on British troops’

Video purportedly showing a suicide attack on three British troops outside Baghdad was posted on an Islamic website today.

Al Qaida-linked followers of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had earlier claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack that killed three British soldiers south of Baghdad.

A subtitle claims: “The first martyrdom operation against the British forces in Baghdad” before the video shows a car slowly driving down a road before it bursts into flames.

No military vehicle is seen nearby. Off-camera, a voice yells out “Allahu Akar,” or “God is Great.” The tape then shows military vehicles and a helicopter hovering nearby.

The video tape later shows a blown-off arm and a person, partially off-camera, kicking the arm around before he forcefully steps on it. A subtitle reads “these are some of the body parts that they have not seen because there were so many.”

At one point, a voice proclaims: “I swear...that the head of America has been rolled in the dust and trampled on by our heroes.”

On Thursday, soldiers from Britain’s Black Watch regiment were manning a vehicle checkpoint east of the Euphrates River when a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle and other insurgents fired mortars at the position, killing three soldiers and wounding eight more, according to British officials.

The three deaths represented the worst combat loss suffered by British troops since August 23 2003, when three Royal Military Police were killed in southern Iraq.

So far, 73 British troops have been killed.

An Iraqi interpreter who had postponed his wedding to travel to central Iraq with the troops was also killed, British officials said.

Al-Zarqawi’s group, formerly known as Tawhid and Jihad, are believed to be responsible for numerous car bombings and beheadings of foreign hostages, including Kenneth Bigley.

The British Black Watch has been sent to the high-risk area in central Iraq to free up US forces for an expected assault on the militant stronghold of Fallujah.