In the war-ravaged streets of Iraq, US-led forces say insurgents are recruiting women driven by despair or revenge to act as suicide bombers in the latest tactic against coalition troops.
Motivated by poverty, desperation or vengeance against the US-led military they blame for the deaths of family members, vulnerable women are easy prey for insurgents promising them a place in a paradise afterlife.
On Thursday evening a female suicide bomber killed eight people and wounded 20 after she detonated her explosives-filled vest in Baqubah, the capital of Diyala, one of the most dangerous regions in the country.
The bomber targeted a Sahwa or Awakening patrol of Iraqi forces — former insurgents recruited to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq and paid by the US military.
The blast demonstrates a growing trend of using women in insurgent attacks attributed to al-Qaeda in Iraq, which have claimed hundreds of lives across the volatile country.
On July 7, another female suicide bomber killed two people and wounded 14 others after blowing herself up at a bustling street market in Baqubah.
“One of the reasons for women to kill like this is a desire for vengeance,” said Captain Kevin Ryan, commander of a US base in Baqubah. “Often, they have lost parents, brothers or children in the fighting.”
Revenge is a powerful motive which followers of Osama bin Laden are keen to exploit, said Iraqi army Colonel Ali al-Karkhi, who is responsible for security in the Khan Bani Saad district, 30km outside Baqubah.
“Some want vengeance for the fact their families have disappeared,” he said, adding: “And it is easy for them to target those people they believe are responsible.”
Women without education, or even those who suffer from learning disabilities, are particularly targeted by extremists.
“Al-Qaeda look for this type of profile, then they train them and indoctrinate them,” Ryan said.
Some suicide bombers chose to carry out an attack in exchange for cash for their families, the two officers said, adding that Iraqi security forces, police, army or Awakening groups are the bombers’ most frequent targets.
Abu Zarra, leader of an Awakening group west of Baqubah, described how some months ago he was visited by a young woman dressed in a long black dress which covered her whole body.
“She was about 17 or 18 years old and she asked for help. She said she needed to see Abu Zarra. She spoke to me without knowing who I was,” he explained.
The tribal chief left to go to a wedding and decided to leave the woman in the care of one of his guards. It was a decision which saved the chief’s life.
“She opened her dress and blew herself up,” he said. “Three were killed and two wounded. One of my guards was burned alive.”
Fearful for their safety, US soldiers patrolling the streets avoid women wearing these long dresses.
“Each time you see one, you wonder if she is going to blow herself up,” one soldier said.
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