Al Qaeda in Iraq, Insurgent Groups Vow Revenge for Alleged Rapes

CAIRO, Egypt – Three Iraqi insurgent groups, including Al Qaeda in Iraq, are threatening revenge attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces for the alleged rapes of women by Iraq security forces, according to statements posted on Web sites Thursday.

One tape, believed to be that of Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub Al-Masri, urges insurgents to:

"Annihilate their checkpoints, break into their camps, cut them to pieces and cut their hearts out of their bodies... Oh, convoys of martyrs, go with the blessing of God, turn their checkpoints into fire, wreck their homes and make their blood flow in rivers!"

The authenticity of the tape could not be immediately verified, but the Associated Press reported that it was thought to be al-Masri, introduced as Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir, a name the militants use for him.

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The tape was the most dramatic of three statements posted on the Web that purported to carry insurgent responses to the charges of rape leveled by women against Iraqi policemen and soldiers this week.

In the first allegation, a 20-year-old Sunni woman claimed to have been raped by three Iraqi policemen after she was detained at home in western Baghdad.

Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, a Shiite, insisted the claim was fabricated by Sunni politicians and extremists to discredit the police and the security crackdown in Baghdad.

In the second allegation a 50-year-old Sunni woman in Tal Afar, 420 kilometers (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, claimed she was raped by four Iraqi soldiers, who also tried to rape her two daughters.

In his tape, al-Masri addressed the first victim, whose name he gave, and said: "You, pure honest woman ... be patient and know that more than 300 Iraqi fighters volunteered for suicide attacks in the first 10 hours after they heard the news."

He said the volunteers included 50 members of her Janabi clan, and "more than 20 of them have asked to marry you."

Complete coverage is available in FOXNews.com's Iraq Center.

Two other groups, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Mujahedeen Army, posted statements 14 hours apart on another Islamic Web site known for hosting extremist material. It was not possible to verify the authenticity of either statement.

"The office of our emir condemns the assaults on our sisters' honor," the Islamic State of Iraq said at the top of its statement.

The ISI is the name that a group of militant organizations, including Al Qaeda in Iraq, adopted when they declared the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq last October. The "emir" is the group's leader, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.

The statement went on to say it would not tolerate "these violations of our people."

"The emir has ordered the State's troops to step up operations against the crusaders and the Shiites (the police and army) in the coming days," said the statement, which was posted before the Tal Afar claim became public knowledge. The Mujahedeen Army, which does not belong to the ISI, referred to the "incidents" involving the two "sisters."

Neither statement used the Arabic word for "rape," apparently because it is regarded as an extremely humiliating act.

"You will witness our response, you will see it, not only hear it," the Mujahedeen Army said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Complete coverage is available in FOXNews.com's Iraq Center.