The six-minute-long footage, received by Sara Daniel, correspondent of Paris-based weekly Le Nouvel Observateur, shows 10 militants, with their faces concealed by chequered keffiyeh headdresses or white scarves, carrying out the attack from scrubland south of the capital.

The shoulder-launched missile is seen shooting up into the sky after being fired by one of the cell and then homing in on the Airbus-300 freighter.

The vapour trail makes a sharp U-turn as the missile homes in on the infra-red or radio signals from the scheduled Baghdad to Dubai courier flight.

The militants are then seen making their get-away in a car. The 11th militant who presumably shot the footage films his own lap in his haste to get into the vehicle.

After a break, the video resumes with footage of the stricken airliner diving back down to Baghdad airport, in clearly amateur footage shot through electricity lines.

The men, clad in flowing black abayas or camouflage fatigues, carry rocket-propelled grenade launchers or Kalashnikovs as well as two portable missile launchers.

Only one missile is seen fired.

Before the firing, a US army helicopter is seen hovering in the middle distance, but the militants have clearly chosen their target and leave the military aircraft alone.

Tall grass partially obstructs the view of the chopper. It is unclear whether it is the undergrowth that prevents the soldiers aboard from spotting the militants, or the three cars they have parked on a dusty path, as they ready their strike.

The missile launcher is an SA-14 Gremlin, not an SA-7 Grail as initially reported by the US military.

Both are made by Russian firm Strela (Arrow) but the Gremlin is heavier, weighing in at 16 kilogrammes (35 pounds), compared with the 9.15 kilogrammes (20 pounds) of the Grail.

The SA-14 has a range of 2,000 metres (yards) when used against an approaching jet, although this is extended to 4,500 metres when used against a helicopter or propeller-driven aircraft.

Daniel said the video had been left at her hotel Sunday. She said had no idea why she had been chosen among the hundreds of other journalists covering the persistent insurgency that has dogged the US-led occupation.

"I have been working on a feature on the various resistance groups for several weeks. I've no idea who these people are who carried out this attack but maybe they had heard of me through the others I have met while researching my piece."

WAR.WIRE