After searching questions were asked about the fighting spirit of the Iraqi army, they finally have a hero in the form of a rampaging 60 tonne “Beast”.
An M1A1 Abrams battle tank and its crew are credited with turning the tide of the battle to take the town of Hit, 30 miles northwest of Ramadi, from Islamic State.
“This tank has become a little bit of a folk hero here in Iraq,” Colonel Steve Warren, the US military spokesman in Baghdad, said. “They’ve nicknamed this tank the Beast. It has been driving all around Hit and blasting IEDs [improvised explosive devices], punching holes in enemy defences and manoeuvring between multiple engagements . . . We are aware of the exploits of the crew but we