A former North Yorkshire "red cap" who lost his legs in a bomb blast last night urged the Army to track down the al-Majar killers.

Royal Military Police staff sergeant Andy Mudd was severely maimed by an IRA bomb which blew up outside his home.

The former soldier, who comes from Knaresborough, in North Yorkshire, described the Iraqi deaths as tragic.

He said: "I think it is a tragic thing to be killed in that way. It is a criminal action rather than a war action. It's got to be sorted out quickly then everyone can go back to normal."

He added: "The RMP are always the first ones in and the last ones out. They are forgotten about a lot but they are crucial - it's a team effort.

"The SAS, the Paras and other units are very high profile and are in the news a lot and everyone is talking about them but there are other people out there too, the recovery people, the RMP, the nurses and medics - lots of people that we forget.

"They all do invaluable work to make sure that the high profile units can do their job."

Mr Mudd, who also lost two fingers in the blast and battled for six years for compensation, says the military and warfare have changed since he left service in 1996.

He said: "This is modern policing and warfare, you have to sort things out afterwards. "The RMP are training new police and finding out how their police operated before.

"It is difficult for people to watch television and relate to what's going on out there in Iraq now. Twenty years ago we were talking about the Iron Curtain and the Russians, now it's Bosnia and Iraq - these are different types of warfare. In my day it was Northern Ireland and the Russians in Germany."

He added: "These deaths are tragic and my sympathy is with the families."