BAGHDAD, Sept 27 (AFP) - The Unity and Holy War group of US arch foe Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi said Monday that two of its suicide volunteers carried out a double car bombing on a US-Iraqi base near the rebel-held city of Fallujah.
In a videotape obtained by AFP in Iraq, one of four masked gunmen read a statement saying the group had perpetrated Sunday's attacks to avenge the killing by the US military of top Zarqawi aide Abu Anas al-Shami.
"Two Tawhid (Unity) lion cubs conducted an operation at 8:15 am (0415 GMT) against the occupation forces and the renegades in the Karama region," he said, referring to a small town between Fallujah and Baghdad.
The tape included footage of the attack, which was dubbed "Operation Sheikh Abu Anas al-Shami".
It shows the blurred face of one of the suicide bombers at the wheel of a blue Korean-made pick-up truck, just moments before he rammed it into the barrier system at the entrance of the base.
The cameraman's vehicle then pulls over to the side of the road and seconds later two large blasts can be seen, one of which sparks a huge fireball before sending thick black smoke billowing into the sky.
The US military confirmed Sunday that a double suicide car bombing had struck the base but said only the two attackers were killed, while no serious injuries were sustained among the US or Iraqi security personnel.
The footage -- overlain with logos and banners of Zarqawi's group and a background soundtrack of Islamic chants -- fits in with the account of the bombings given by the US military.
Shami is thought to have been a key ideologue of the group and his assassination was hailed as a major coup by the US military.
The spokesman in the video said the double attack was also carried out "in retaliation for the American bombing of women and children in their houses in Iraq and particularly in Fallujah".
"Let the enemy know that, with God's help, we can deliver a powerful reprisal," he said.
The US military has launched repeated air strikes on Fallujah targeting what commanders say are suspected hideouts of Zarqawi's group.
But medics say there have been many women and children among the casualties.
Zarqawi, who has a 25 million dollar US bounty on his head, is thought by the Central Intelligence Agency to have personally beheaded American hostage Eugene "Jack" Armstrong last week.
His group also killed a second US hostage and is still holding Briton Kenneth Bigley.