"I vow ... to be a suicide bomber who will defend Iraq," said one of the women, named as Nur al-Shammari, seen raising a rifle in the air and with her other hand placed on a Koran, the Muslim holy book.

"We are going to take revenge on the enemies of the nation, Americans, imperialists, the British and Arabs that gave themselves over to foreigners," she warned.

"We tell our leader ... Saddam Hussein that you have sisters of whom you will be proud."

The women, who were wearing red-and-white keffiyeh headscarves but whose faces were clearly visible, are seen standing to the background of an Iraqi flag.

"I am sacrificing myself for God," said the second one, identifying herself as Widad Jamil, in a scene similar to those recorded by Palestinian militants preparing suicide bombings against Israel.

US Central Command (Centcom) said three coalition soldiers, a pregnant woman and her driver were killed in the explosion Thursday night at a checkpoint near Hadithah Dam, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

Centcom did not say whether it was a suicide attack, although the circumstances were similar to those of a car bomb blast on March 29, which Iraq said would be followed by others against US and British troops.

Al-Jazeera, which said the two women were the same ones identified by Iraq's official news agency INA, did not say from where it obtained the footage. INA gave their names as Nusha Mjalli al-Shammari and Widad Jamil al-Duleimi.

SPACE.WIRE