BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — A five-minute video that appears to show members of a radical Islamist group preparing for and carrying out the attack last week on a U.S. base in Mosul surfaced Sunday.
CNN has not independently authenticated the video, purportedly from the group Jaish Ansar Al-Sunna.
In the video, three men are dressed in black clothes with their heads covered. One of the men reads a statement and identifies another man as “this courageous lion, Abu Omar Al-Mosuli.”
The speaker says in Arabic that the suicide bomber will sneak through a fence at the base while guards change shifts shortly before lunchtime.
“We have been monitoring these mealtimes for a long time and soon this lion will reach his target, taking advantage of their going to lunch,” the speaker says.
Later in the video, the three men appear to be pointing to spots on the hand-drawn map, including a building labeled as “restaurant.” After that two of the men hug the third.
That portion of the video is date-stamped December 20, the day before the attack at Camp Marez that killed 22 people, including 14 U.S. troops.
The video cuts to a wide shot of a white tent that appears to be the mess hall that was attacked Tuesday. When the right side of the tent erupts in an explosion and fireball, the time stamp reads 12:03 p.m. December 21, the time in Iraq when the attack occurred.
A final shot, taken from a moving vehicle and stamped two hours after the attack, shows what appears to be the aftermath.
U.S. investigators said Wednesday that they believe the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber wearing a bomb-laden vest. (Full story)
Jaish Ansar Al-Sunna claimed responsibility on the day of the attack, and promised that video it shot would soon be released. Sunday, the five-minute video was posted on a number of Islamist Web sites.
Senior Pentagon officials said they were not convinced that Jaish Ansar Al-Sunna was responsible and that they believe foreign fighters backed by the Jordanian-born terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi were behind the attack.
Last week, however, Brigadier Gen. Carter Ham, the commander of U.S. forces in Mosul, told CNN he had “no reason to doubt” Jaish Ansar Al-Sunna’s claim of responsibility.
“They are a very vicious terrorist organization,” he said.
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TRANSLATION OF VIDEO AS FOLLOWS:
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The Blessed Mosul Attack
In the name of Allâh, the Most Merciful and the Most Compassionate
Thanks to Allâh, Supporter of the Mujahideen, Glorifier of the Believers, and Defeater of the Infidels; and prayer and peace upon the Imam of the Mujahideen, our Prophet Muhammad, upon his family, his companions, and those who followed them in the good until Judgment Day:
Since the investigations and the series of American lies about the blessed operation against Al-Ghizlani Camp are about to end without a significant outcome on the nature of the operation and the true number of losses, thanks to Allâh, here we are issuing you a statement with a video of this blessed operation. May they appease the chests of a believing people and be useful for the Americans in their investigations on this operation.
He Above said: (Fight the, Allâh will punish them by your hands, will disgrace them, give you victory over them, appease the chests of a believing people, and remove the fury from their hearts. And Allâh turns in forgiveness to whom He wills, and Allâh is Knowing and Wise) – Sûrah Al-Tawbah 14-15.
Allâh, may He be praised, has blessed the Ummah of Islam with a believing denomination [sect] based on Islam, who fights Allâh’s enemies until Resurrection Day, and at this time, during which the powers of blasphemy, evil; but Allâh is standing up to them and came upon them from where they did not expect it.
Thanks to Allâh, we planned an operation against the enemies of Allâh in their own camps. One of the Mujahideen has sacrificed himself for the sake of Allâh and for the support of His religion, by entering Al-Ghizlani Camp in Mosul, used by the American Forces as a base for its aggression against Muslims. Thanks to Allâh, this Martyrdom Seeker, was able to penetrate all the security barricades [check points], create a massacre in the ranks of the Crusader infidels, and plant terror in their hearts and the hearts of their apostate allies.
Based on the above, we announce to the Ummah of Islam that, according to “our sources”?, the preliminary results to this operations were more than 100 dead among the Americans and their allies, and more than 200 injured. This is due to the fact that those who are present in the restaurant at lunch time “the time of execution of the operation”? are more than 500 Crusaders and Apostates. Medical choppers were seen in a queue transporting casualties and injuries.
O Muslims, the real good news is that, thanks to Allâh, this heroic Martyrdom Seeker was able to make the enemies of Allâh suffer and turn the joy of the Crusaders on their Holidays into sorrow and weeping, just as they have done to before to our people in Fallujah in particular, and to the Muslims in general, scattering them and depriving them from enjoying the blessed Eid of Al-Fitr. Also, their big [leader] Bush, with all his tyranny and power, came out to us with his head down, small and miserable, not finding words to say from the intensity of this attack.
Let the Americans, their allies and their Apostate collaborators know that, thanks to Allâh, the Ummah has woken up from her sleep, and has prepared itself to confront its enemy. It [the Ummah] will make all the blasphemers lose sleep, until it defeats them. For, Allâh, may He be praised, Has prepared men who are keen to die just as the infidels are keen to live.
O Islamic Ummah! Congratulations to you for your heroic soldiers, descendents of Khaled, Abu Obaida and Salah Eddine. O Ummah of Islam! Give more of your sons as offerings to Allâh and sacrifice the expensive and valuables for the sake of Allâh, and in order to raise His word. O brother who have believed! Know that you and your wealth are for Allâh Above, as He is the Owner. [verse from the Qur’an].
Congratulations to those who sold themselves to Allâh and won Paradise.
Allâh is Greatest! Glory to Allâh, to His Prophet, and to the Believers.
Prayer and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, upon his family and his companions.
The Department of Information in Jaish Ansar Al-Sunnah
13 Zhu Al-Qa’dah, 1425
December 25, 2004