DUBAI - The Al-Qaeda linked Army of Ansar al-Sunna claimed it had killed two Turkish truck drivers ferrying supplies to US forces in Iraq, in a statement posted on an Islamist website Wednesday.
The statement, whose authenticity could not be confirmed, named the pair as Turan Unal and Huseyin Aytag.
A unit from the group "ambushed trucks which transport supplies to crusader forces" on Febuary 25, the statement said.
It "seized two trucks on the Kirkuk-Tikrit road (in northern Iraq) which was carrying cement from Turkey to Tikrit (for a company supplying) US crusader forces. The two trucks were burned along with their cargo, and the rule of God was then implemented against the two drivers," it said.
The Army of Ansar al-Sunna has claimed a string of attacks in Iraq, including murders of foreign hostages and Iraqis accused of "collaborating" with US-led forces. It has often released video footage showing the killings.
The group also claimed a December 21, 2004 attack on a US base in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul that killed 22 people, including 14 US soldiers.
Some 80 Turks, most of them truck drivers, have been killed in Iraq in recent months. Most died in attacks on truck convoys although a number were the victims of kidnappers.
03/02/2005 15:18 GMT