You couldn’t make it up – apparently giant man-eating badgers are terrorising Basra.

Rumour goes that giant “man-eating badgers” were released into the area by British troops.

“I was sleeping at night when this strange animal hit me on my head. I have not seen such an animal before. My husband hurried to shoot it but it was as swift as a deer,” Suad Hassan, a 30-year-old housewife said.
“It is the size of a dog but his head is like a monkey. It runs so quickly.”

Sattar Jabbar, a 50-year-old local farmer from Abu Sakhar north of Basra, believes the badger can tackle even large prey:
“I saw it three days ago at night attacking animals. It even ate a cow. It tore the cow up piece by piece. I tried to shoot it with my gun but it ran away into the orchards. I missed it,” he said.