IRAQ: The troops who sparked furore over the weekend by releasing photos apparently showing UK servicemen abusing an Iraqi prisoner have stood by their account.
They also claim hundreds of photographs have been taken of British soldiers mistreating Iraqi civilians.
Troops serving in southern Iraq have been swapping the pictures among themselves, the unnamed soldiers from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment (QLR) told the Daily Mirror.
Doubts were cast yesterday on the authenticity of the photographs, published in the newspaper, which appeared to show the hooded man being struck with a rifle butt, urinated on and having a gun held to his head.
Sources close to the regiment claimed the rifle, hats and truck seen in the pictures did not match those issued to men in Iraq, and queried why there was no sign of sweat, dirt or injuries on the body of the victim of the alleged assault.
The BBC reported claims that key discrepancies in the pictures indicated they could be fakes.
However, the soldiers who made the photographs public told the Mirror: "We stand by every single word of our story.
"This happened, it is not a hoax and the army knows a lot more has happened."
They also gave in-depth explanations about some of the concerns raised about the details in the photographs.
Responding to suspicions that the man's T-shirt was too clean and not of a type worn in Iraq, the two soldiers said they witnessed dozens of Iraqis wearing such T-shirts, and that an Arab dress he was wearing over the T-shirt was ripped off during his arrest.
And they also denied claims that QLR troops rarely wore floppy jungle hats, saying they used them "all the time" as berets were "too hot" and helmets "cumbersome".
The Royal Military Police is carrying out an urgent inquiry into claims that the man was subjected to an eight-hour ordeal after being picked up in Iraq for suspected theft last year.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the soldiers said: "Maybe the officers don't know what is going on - but everybody else does. I have seen literally hundreds of pictures."