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Woman arrested for recruiting female bombers

A woman suspected of recruiting more than 80 female suicide bombers has been arrested, the Iraqi military said, dealing a major blow to one of the most effective forms of attacks in Iraq.

The woman, who was identified as Samira Ahmed Jassim or by her nickname "Umm al-Mumineen," was shown confessing in a video played for reporters at a press conference in Baghdad.
Dressed in an all-encompassing black Islamic robe, she described how she would persuade the women to be bombers, then escort them to an orchard for insurgent training and finally pick them up and lead them to their targets.
She said she was acting on behalf of insurgents based in the volatile Diyala province, north of Baghdad.

Iraqi military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said the suspect had recruited more than 80 women willing to carry out attacks and had admitted masterminding 28 bombings in different areas.

The number of bombings carried out by women has spiked even as overall violence has declined, and U.S. commanders have warned insurgents are actively trying to find more recruits.
At least 36 female suicide bombers attempted or successfully carried out 32 suicide attacks last year, compared with eight in 2007, according to U.S. military figures.
The military said it couldn't provide information on the number of female suicide bombers so far this year. But there was at least one - a woman who blew herself up in the midst of Iranian pilgrims in Baghdad, killing more than three dozen people on January 4th.

The use of female suicide bombers is part of a shift in insurgent tactics to avoid detection at U.S.-Iraqi military checkpoints that have become ubiquitous in Iraq as part of increased security measures.
Iraqi women often are allowed to pass through male-guarded checkpoints without being searched, and they traditionally wear flowing black robes that make it easier to hide explosives belts.
To counter the threat, the U.S. military has stepped up efforts to recruit women for the Iraqi security forces.

Jassim, whose nickname means "the mother of believers," was arrested by Iraqi security forces acting on tips on January 21st and is allegedly linked to the Ansar al-Sunnah insurgent group, al-Moussawi said.
The spokesman would not say where Jassim was arrested because the investigation was ongoing.
But he said the recruits had been from Baghdad and Diyala province.
He also said she had contact with a pair of recently detained insurgent brothers.

In the video, Jassim said she had to talk to one elderly woman several times before persuading her to blow herself up at a bus station.
It also took Jassim two weeks to recruit another woman who was a teacher and had problems with her husband and his family, according to the confession.
The woman eventually attacked members of government-backed Sunni groups in Diyala province, the suspect said.

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