25th Female Suicide Bomber of 2008

Another woman suicide bomber detonated her explosives in Baquba, the provincial capitol of Diyala on July 24. This is the 25th such incident in 2008. 14 of these attacks have been in troubled Diyala province that Iraqi security forces are targeting for a new offensive at the beginning of August.

As has been the pattern, this bombing was aimed at a Sunni Sons of Iraq (SOI) unit. The attack killed 8 SOI fighters, and wounded 24 others. The target was Shiekh Naaim al-Duliami, the head of SOIs in western Baquba, who was killed along with seven bodyguards. Originally security forces thought that it was a car bombing, but then a woman’s pair of legs were found.

As reported earlier, female suicide bombers is a growing tactic employed by Al Qaeda in Iraq as it runs out of foreign fighters to carry such attacks, and their overall number of operations decline dramatically.

SOURCES

Agence France Presse, “Woman suicide bomber kills eight in Iraq: police,” 7/24/08

Gamel, Kim, “Suicide bomber kills 8 US-allied Sunnis in Iraq,” Associated Press, 7/24/08

Oppel, Richard, “8 Die in Iraq in Suicide Bombing, Apparently by Woman,” New York Times, 7/25/08

Reuters, “Female bomber kills seven in northeast Iraq,” 7/24/08