A female suicide bomber killed 16 people and wounded 40 Sunday when she detonated her explosives in a crowded area of central Baquba, police there said. Police, women and children were among the casualties, according to the Diyala Military Operations command. The attack happened near the main government complex in Baquba on a street that security officials had sealed off last week. Only official vehicles were being allowed in the area; civilian vehicles without special clearance were prohibited.More than 20 female suicide bombers have carried out attacks in Iraq this year, a number much higher than in previous years. According to the U.S. military, women carried out eight bombings in 2007. The women are desperate and hopeless, officials said, and most have pre-existing ties to the insurgency. Their primary motive is revenge for a male family member killed by U.S. or Iraqi forces, the officials said.
'We do see certain members of cells attempting to persuade women -- specifically, in many cases, wives of those who have been killed as terrorists -- to conduct suicide operations,' U.S. Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling said recently. His area of operations includes the volatile Diyala province. Hertling's troops in Diyala have launched operations targeting relatives of suspected female bombers, as they attempt to break up the rings that are recruiting the women and girls.
Intelligence gathered from detainees indicates that al Qaeda in Iraq is looking for women with three main characteristics: those who are illiterate, are deeply religious or who have financial struggles. Women in the last category often have money problems because they've lost the male head of the household, officials said.
The U.S. military has created a program called the Daughters of Iraq, similar to the U.S.-backed Sons of Iraq, across the Sunni regions of the country. The Daughters of Iraq are being trained to conduct searches of women.