Al-Qaida ' trick handicapped women' into suicide bombings

Two women suicide bombers who killed nearly 80 people in Baghdad today were Down’s Syndrome victims exploited by al-Qaida.

The explosives were detonated by remote control in a co-ordinated attack after the women walked into separate crowded markets, said the chief Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad General Qassim al-Moussawi.

Other officials said the women were apparently unaware of what they were doing in what could be a new method by suspected Sunni insurgents to subvert toughened security measures.

More than 70 people died and scores were wounded in the deadliest day since the US “surge” of 30,000 extra troops were sent to the capital this spring.

In the first attack, a woman detonated explosives hidden under her traditional black Islamic robe at about 10.20 am in the central al-Ghazl market. The weekly bazaar has been bombed several times since the war started but recently had re-emerged as a popular place to shop and stroll as Baghdad security improved.

At least 46 people were killed and more than 100 wounded.

About 20 minutes later, the second woman struck a bird market in a predominantly Shiite area in south-eastern Baghdad killing up to 27 people and wounding 70.

The attacks shortly before the weekly Islamic call to prayer resounded across the capital were the latest in a series of violent incidents that have been chipping away at Iraqi confidence in the permanence of recent security gains.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said the attacked were committed by terrorists motivated by revenge and “to show that they are still able to stop the march of history and of our people toward reconciliation.”

Police initially said the bomb at al-Ghazl market was hidden in a box of birds but realised it was a suicide attack after finding the woman’s head, an officer said.

At least four other suicide bombings have been staged by women since November, all in the volatile Diyala province north-east of the capital.

The most recent was on January 16 when a female suicide bomber detonated her explosives as Shiites were preparing for a ceremony marking the holiday of Ashoura in a Shiite village near the Diyala provincial capital of Baqouba.

Involving women in fighting violates cultural taboos in Iraq, but the US has warned that al-Qaida is recruiting females and youths to stage suicide attacks because militants are increasingly desperate to thwart stepped-up security measures.

Women in Iraq often wear a black Islamic robe known as an abaya and can avoid thorough searches at checkpoints because men are not allowed to search them and there’s a dearth of female guards.

A bomb hidden in a box of small birds also exploded at the al-Ghazl market in late November, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens.

The military has been unable to stop the suicide bombings despite a steep drop in violence in the past six months, but the today’s explosions were the deadliest in the capital since August.