Al-Qaeda 'Top 10' attacks shown

2005-08-10 20:50

Dubai - A video showing a so-called "Top Ten" of bloody attacks against US forces in Iraq that were claimed by al-Qaeda-linked groups appeared on an Islamist website on Wednesday.

The 17-minute video is aimed at "those who like to see American crusader blood flowing", said the group calling itself the Islam Media Front which said it posted the footage.

One segment shows American soldiers' bodies torn to pieces in an attack near the Syrian border that was claimed by the al-Qaeda Organisation in the Land of Two Rivers (Iraq), the group of Iraq's most wanted man Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Another shows a US helicopter that was shot down and reduced to shreds of metal by a group calling itself the Islamic Army of Iraq.

Yet another scene shows seven US soldiers whose bodies were pulverised in a landmine explosion, before other US soldiers come to to collect their remains.

The scenes are backed by an audiotrack of Qur'anic chants, war cries and calls of "Allahu Akhbar" (God is Greatest).

The makers of the video call on their sympathisers to "spread the video on foreign forums so that Americans will be ashamed of themselves at the weakness of their army".

Al-Qaeda-linked groups regularly use websites to distribute shocking footage of kidnappings and slayings as a tactic to increase the psychological impact of their attacks.

Since the US-led war in Iraq began in March 2003, 1 834 US troops have been killed according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures.

- AFP