BAGHDAD — In video footage released by Iraqi police, a teenage girl with an explosives vest tightly strapped to her body is seen handcuffed to a metal grid, her head repeatedly falling forward as several police officers huddle around her.
After several minutes, the officers lift her flowered robe, remove the white vest hidden underneath and then take her for questioning, videotaping her in the presence of reporters. They prod her to confess to plans to stage a suicide attack, but she denies the allegation.
The arrest of the girl, who gave her first name as Rania, heightened concern about a rise in suicide bombings by women in Iraq. The number of female bombers has more than tripled, from eight in 2007 to 29 this year, according to U.S. military officials.
That compares with a total of four in 2005 and 2006, according to the military. On Aug. 14, a female suicide bomber struck a group of Shiite pilgrims south of Baghdad, killing at least 17 people and wounding dozens of others.
Police in Baqubah, where the girl was caught Sunday, said she told them she was fitted with the explosives by female relatives of her husband, whom she married five months ago. One police official alleged that some in the girl’s family had links to al-Qaeda in Iraq.
In displaying the dazed and possibly drugged teenager — who says she was born in 1993, which would make her 14 or 15 — police wanted to deal another blow to the terror network’s reputation, officials said.
Police wanted to “show the desperate level al-Qaeda has reached, with members of one family driving each other to death,” said Ibrahim Bajilan, head of the provincial council in the Diyala province.
In publicizing the details of the case, police also may be trying to demonstrate they are effective in fighting the insurgents and to turn more Iraqis against the militants, said John Pike, a defense analyst and director of .
The circumstances of the girl’s arrest remained unclear. U.S. officials said she summoned police after being hooked to the explosives against her will. Local police said she was caught by a police patrol after arousing suspicion while walking in downtown Baqubah. Police later said her vest was packed with 33 pounds of explosives. A police photo showed it had six compartments, including two stuffed with what looked like tubes and four holding packages in plastic.
The next scene shows the girl in an office, wrapped in a black cloak, her dyed brown hair disheveled, as she is questioned by several officers. The journalists invited to attend are not shown.
Her exchange with police offered a rare glimpse at a teen allegedly recruited by insurgents in what the U.S. military has warned is a growing trend. But it was not clear to what extent her answers were given out of fear and influenced by the presence of reporters.
Rania’s mother also was interrogated and told police she was unaware of the alleged plot, adding that her husband was missing.
U.S. commanders believe al-Qaeda in Iraq is increasingly seeking to exploit women unable to deal with the grief of losing husbands, children and others to the violence.
