A voice purported to be that of the leader of an al-Qaeda-linked group in Iraq has claimed it had begun making its own rockets.
The voice, said to be that of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, could be heard today on an Islamic website routinely used by militant Islamic groups. The authenticity of the tape could not immediately be verified.
The rockets, called al-Quds-1, or Jerusalem-1, "have moved into the phase of military production with an advanced degree of range and accuracy," he said.
The arms manufacturing capabilities of insurgent groups fighting US and Iraqi forces since 2003 are believed to be limited, with them relying almost entirely on weapons looted from Saddam Hussein's massive depots following the collapse of his regime.
Weapons are believed to be smuggled from across the Syrian and Iranian borders.
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis had been employed in Saddam's huge arms industry, and some of the workers are thought to have joined the insurgency or offered their expertise in the fight against US forces and their Iraqi allies.
Insurgent groups in Iraq have been using a range of Soviet-era rockets like Katyusha and shoulder-fired ground-to-air Sam-7 missiles.
It was also revealed today that a truck that crashed 25 miles north of Baghdad was carrying nitric acid and explosives and was en route to attack a joint US-Iraqi security station, the US military claimed.
"The driver . . . confessed that he was paid to attack the Joint Security Station in Mashahda, which also houses the town's Iraqi police station," a statement said.