A previously unknown group has threatened to kill Iraqis who work with US forces in Iraq as well as American and other foreign troops in the country.
The threat was made in a video tape shown on the Arabic Al Jazeeratelevision in which a dozen men appeared in white robes and holding rifles with a hazy picture, apparently of ousted leader Saddam Hussein, in the background.
"We will kill the Iraqi spies and traitors before we kill the infidel Americans and we will kill any soldier sent by any Arab or foreign country to our land. We want to liberate our land," said one of the men, speaking for a group calling itself the "Jihad Cells".
"We will take revenge on them (Americans) so the ground shakes beneath their feet. We are guerrilla fighters for our religion and our country. Make the guerrilla warfare a war to liberate Iraq," he said.
The men, whose faces were covered by traditional Arab headdresses, made heavy use of Islamic rhetoric in the recording, which lasted around four minutes.
A US soldier and an Iraqi interpreter were killed and three soldiers were wounded in a gun and bomb attack in Baghdad today, the latest in almost daily attacks on US troops who toppled Saddam in April.
Earlier today a group of unidentified Iraqi militants said in an interview on another Arabic station that the attacks were the work of Islamists and not Saddam loyalists.
"They (attacks) are all waged in the name of God, none of them (attacks) have any relation to the former regime...All Iraqis have been harmed by the former regime," a masked man told Abu Dhabi television in an interview from Iraq.
"America and its allies say they have tanks, they have warplanes, they have technology. We have something stronger than all of this. We have God supporting us," he said. The television station did not say where or when the interview was recorded.
In recent weeks, many groups - some saying they are Saddam loyalists and one claiming links to the militant al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden - have claimed responsibility for attacks against US occupying forces in Iraq.
Today's attack brought to 38 the number of US deaths at enemy hands since May 1st, when President George W. Bush declared major combat over.