The dramatic moment a 15-year-old Iraqi suicide bomber gave herself up

Tears streaming down her face, she is confronted by police - a teenage girl apparently planning to blow herself up in front of an Iraqi school.

The officers handcuffed her to a metal balustrade before moving in with extreme caution to uncover a vest full of explosives hidden under her colourful robe.

The dramatic scenes were captured on a video shot by the police.





The girl - thought to be around 15 years old - later said that she was given the bomb and told to wait outside the school for further instructions.

In the footage, she denies trying to stage a suicide attack, and appears dazed, even drugged. She gave her first name as Rania and said she was born in 1993.

Her exchange with the police offered a rare glimpse at a teenager allegedly recruited by insurgents.

However, it was not clear to what extent her answers were given out of fear - of the police, or even of her own family.



Police in Baqouba, where the girl was caught on Sunday, said she was fitted with the vest by female relatives of her husband, whom she married five months ago.

They also claimed that the girl's father was a suicide bomber, and her mother and one of her sisters were later arrested.

However, U.S. sources said that the girl turned herself in after being hooked up to the explosives against her will.

The police footage begins with Rania standing on the street. Her arms are already behind her back, where they have apparently been tied by an officer in an attempt to restrain her.

A policeman is shown opening her robe, and later frames show her wearing what appears to be a suicide vest, containing about 33lb of explosives.

The officer said the girl led the police back to where she was given the explosives and that they found a second bomb belt in an empty apartment in the Baqouba area.

He also said the girl's mother and sister were arrested, but it was not clear why.

Some female bombers may have been motivated by revenge, and U.S. commanders believe al Qaeda in Iraq is increasingly seeking to exploit women unable to deal with the grief of losing husbands, parents, children and others to the violence.

The U.S. military said that in Diyala, some 200 female volunteers recruited by the U.S.-backed group Daughters of Iraq are helping search women at checkpoints.

Many Iraqi women wear long robes, ideal for covering bulky suicide vests, and Iraqi policemen hesitate to pat them down at checkpoints because of cultural taboos.

The police footage of the girl's arrest begins with her standing on a Baqouba street, next to a metal structure.

Her arms are behind her back, apparently tied to the structure, as police surround her.

Later, a policeman is shown opening her robe, and subsequent frames show her wearing what appears to be the suicide vest.

Police later said the vest contained about 33 pounds of explosives.

The girl is then shown standing in a room, wrapped in a black cloak, her hair dishevelled and surrounded by police officers.

She insists she doesn't know the women who gave her the vest.

'I swear to Allah that I do not know them. They were strangers,' she is heard saying, though she later says that 'one of the women's names was maybe Fadhila and the other was called Widad.'

When pressed to say whether she knew the woman who put the vest on her, she replied: 'Yes.'

Police asked if she intended to blow herself up.

'No, no, they put it on me and told me to take it off at home,' she said. 'They did not tell me to explode myself.'

A policeman then asks: 'If so, why didn't you disconnect" the detonator?

The girl says: 'I did not disconnect it (because) maybe it fell from me.'

A policeman standing next to her could be heard saying that when she was picked up, she was initially unable to talk because she had been given drugs.

Footage from another interrogation session appears to contradict this testimony, with Rania saying she was shown the vest's two detonators and told to press the second button if the first failed to work.

At one point, a policeman can be heard saying that when the girl was picked up, she was unable to talk because she had been given drugs.

The drama came as it was revealed that the number of women carrying out suicide attacks in Iraq has more than tripled in 12 months.

The number has gone from eight in 2007 to 29 this year, according to U.S. military officials.

They believe that Al Qaeda is increasingly exploiting women unable to deal with the grief of losing husbands, parents and children since the U.S. invasion in 2003.

Baqouba, where the girl was arrested, is the capital of the volatile eastern Diyala province and an Al Qaeda stronghold in Iraq. The area has seen some of the worst violence in the country.

The U.S. military said that in Diyala, some 200 female volunteers recruited by the U.S.-backed group Daughters of Iraq are now helping with checkpoint searches.



SOURCE

There are more pics on the source link.

Very sad how people manipulate a young woman to try and kill more innocents. Luckily, for whatever reason, this attempted attack failed.

 

Thank god she was caught in time, thank god she wasnt harmed and no one else was harmed. My heart goes out to the civilians in iraq who have to endure this stuff everyday, and lets not forget our soldiers.

 

just curious, is there any suicide bombers in iraq while iraq still with saddam husein?

 

Poor girl. Thank God she's safe. I wonder what must have pushed her into this extreme step? Maybe this?

 

Saddam liked to pay the families of suicide bombers.

 

It's sickenening how they prey on the young and ill. If blowing yourself up is such a gret honour then why do only the weak seem to get pushed into it? Young, female, mentally deficient? Check, you'll make a perfect suicde bomber

 

She doesnt look 15 year old at all.

 

what kind of hatred and anger that possibly can drive a 15 years old girl to be become a suicide bomber?

they should go out and flirt some boys.

 

You're right. These girls need to be out flirting with boys, going to the movies and all the other nice things teenage girls should be doing, not suicide bombing.

 

You can't get to heaven like that.

 

I know that Iraqi Christians use to live in peace during Saddam's regime as long as they didn't oppose the ruling.

Now they are constantly harassed, killed and churches are burned.

Peace,

 

not only churches, mosques got burns.
that kind of sh@ts never happen when saddam rules.

 

Saddam was a really great leader. Ah, the good old days.

 

I feel sorry for her.. I can't picture any 15 year old willing to kill herself and others out of free will. They deserve to live a normal life. It's sad to see how cruel the world is becoming.

 

USA and Nato really improved things, now 15 year old girls are trying to blow themselves up, what a great improvement.

Dumb ignorant fool.

 

Another intelligent response, we are all so lucky to have your forum contributions.

 

We are actually. Otherwise everyone would have to listen to your constant bullshit without anyone answering to it.

 

Yes, it is nice to have the perspective of an ungrateful immigrant living in England, when your biggest contribution is to spout hatred of British policies and values. I am sure England is happy they let you in.

Are you on the government dole too, or do you just act that way?

 

Ahaha, so the real racist browntwn comes out. I'm not an immigrant, you typical ignorant internet warrior.

Continue posting bullshit, mabye if you are lucky some people will buy into it, i'm convinced after this racist 'immigrant' comment you are no more than a 14 year old kid, when you get out done in an argument all you have is to tell respected members of the community to "Piss off"

 

What does being an immigrant have to do with race?

I suspected you were not a native born because of your apparent and expressed hatred for your own country and its values - repeated many times over many months. There was no racist component to my thinking. Although it does not surprise me that you try see one where it does not exist.

I don't have a problem with immigrants either. I have a problem with immigrants who move to a country and then do nothing but bitch about the country they moved to. If you say you were born in England, I will accept your word. That does not mean I respect your opinions any more, just that my assumption about your having moved to England was incorrect. Hardly a contemptible offense.

p.s. I don't consider imad well respected. People have to earn my respect and his expressed hatred of America and Israel does not make him deserving of my respect.

Lest anyone buy into the whole bs you are pushing that you are offended or that I was rude, one need only look at this little collection of YOUR WORDS that I replied to once before...

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showpost.php?p=7100454&postcount=96

And let's not forget these two gems:

And so I say to you as well, piss off.