Iraq claims arrest of woman who trained female bombers
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 3 February 2009 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Iraq claims arrest of woman who trained female bombers, 3 February 2009, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/49904c6519.html [accessed 30 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
February 03, 2009
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi forces say they have captured a woman who trained more than 28 female suicide bombers who carried out attacks across Iraq.
Al-Qaeda and other Sunni Islamist groups have increasingly sent women and girls on suicide bombing missions because they are less likely to be detected in searches, a tactic that became more common in 2007 and 2008.
Baghdad security spokesman Major-General Qassim al-Moussawi said the woman, Samira Ahmed Jassim, was a member of the Sunni Arab militant Islamist group Ansar al-Sunna and was captured at an undisclosed location two weeks ago.
"Our intelligence information and tips from residents showed she directly supervised training of more than 80 female terrorists in Baghdad and Diyala," a northern governorate, he told a news conference.
He played a video in which Jassim, a middle-aged woman in a traditional black robe, appeared to confess to training a female bomber who attacked a police station in Diyala.
Moussawi said: "She confessed to training more than 28 female suicide bombers, all of whom conducted operations in different parts of Iraq."
