The Daily Star's FREE newsletter is spectacular! Sign up today for the best stories straight to your inbox Sign up today! Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The gunmen died as they got ready to machine-gun women and children in northern Iraq.

In what has been described as a shot in a million, a bullet fi red by the elite sniper killed two men instantly.

The round then ricocheted into a third. We can reveal the shooting happened in November during a covert SAS intelligence gathering mission in a remote village.

(Image: GETTY)

Special forces troops had been monitoring Islamic State-controlled areas as Iraqi troops advanced towards the occupied city of Mosul.

The squad was following the movement of senior members of Islamic State inside the village when dozens of women and children attempted to escape the clutches of the vile regime.

The terrorists ordered the civilians to stop and when they refused three gunmen pointed a heavy machine gun at them from a second storey window and prepared to fire.

(Image: GETTY)

The SAS team decided they had no alternative but to open fi re to save the civillians.

But they knew that doing so would reveal the location of their hideout. The sniper was armed with a L115A sniper rifle armed with .338 Lapua Magnum bullets.

The combination can kill at a range of 1,800m and the rifle was also fitted with a suppressor to reduce noise.

The bullet struck the first terrorist in the head killing him instantly. The same round then hit another terrorist in the chest, passed through his body, ricocheted off a wall and struck a third gunmen in the neck.

All three died in the same room, with two of them killed instantly. One source said: “The shot was a one in a million.

There was no way it was planned that way. The sniper aimed to take out the first gunmen and then try and kill the other two before they could open fire on the women and children.

“Alongside the sniper was an SAS spotter, who was watching the target through binoculars.

“The whole incident was over in a flash. The guy manning the machine gun went down first after his head was blown off.

(Image: GETTY)

"Another terrorist collapsed and then the spotter saw the third gunmen staggering around holding his neck. He lasted for about 30 seconds before he collapsed and bled to death.

“No one could quite believe what had happened.” After the shooting the SAS team moved into the village and entered the house to confirm the terrorists were dead.

They also took fingerprints and photos before the unit was withdrawn by helicopter.

Our source continued: “There have been some amazing SAS kills in the past but nothing quite like that. Three kills with one shot will go down in the regiment’s history.”