Israel seizes suspected teenage suicide bombers

Israel is holding two teenage Palestinian girls it claims were preparing to become suicide bombers.

Asil Hindi, 14, and her friend Majd Kuhan, 15, were seized when troops stormed their homes in the West Bank city of Nablus.

Their parents said today the girls were unlikely targets for militants recruiting suicide bombers.

The teenagers spent hours listening to modern music; neither prayed or wore a headscarf and both were closely chaperoned to protect their marriage prospects, they said.

“My daughter is always with me. She doesn’t leave. We are not religious. We are secular. Her father doesn’t even pray,” said Asil’s mother, Sania.

Although there have been a few secular suicide bombers – a handful of them women – most have been observant Muslims.

In the past few months, 10 Nablus teenagers have been arrested on suspicions of planning suicide attacks.

Earlier this year, a 16-year-old was caught and filmed with an explosives vest strapped to his body.

The youngest bomber, Sabih Abu Saud, also came from Nablus. Abu Saud blew himself up in November, just 10 days after his 16th birthday, killing only himself.

Suicide bombers are considered heroes by many Palestinians and are seen as avenging the hardships of nearly four decades of Israeli occupation.

The pictures of some of the most popular “martyrs” are traded like baseball cards among Palestinian youngsters.

The Israeli army said it learned of the plot involving the two girls after arresting a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent group with ties to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement. The militant identified Majd as the bomber and Asil as the recruiter, the military said.

Asil’s mother said at most, the girls should not be taken seriously.

“I think the girls talk in school. They say things jokingly, ’I want to carry out an attack,’ but they aren’t serious,” Asil’s mother said. “It is part of Palestinian culture.”

Naef Abu Shareh, the head of Al Aqsa in Nablus, denied he recruited the girls, saying his group has enough “serious men willing to carry out attacks.” But he said being a suicide bomber is a “dream” for many Palestinian youths.

“Some of the boys who want to get closer to the girls and look like heroes say things like this. It is not really true. They just want to look strong,” he added.

Nasser Kuhan, Majd’s father, said he kept close tabs on his daughter. She was only allowed to leave the house with her mother or her sisters. She wasn’t permitted to mingle with boys.

“She has no freedom, she isn’t allowed to have a mobile phone,” Kuhan said. “I pray my daughter will be returned to me ... and then I will watch her even more closely.”