Records identify 6,000 suicide bombers in Iraq, most foreigners
BAGHDAD — Most known Al Qaida operatives in Iraq have been
identified as foreign nationals according to documents captured by pro-U.S. Sunni tribes.
The records taken from Al Qaida strongholds in Diyala have documented the
names of 6,000 suicide bombers. Most of the names were identified as foreign
Arab nationals, Middle East Newsline reported.
"Al Qaida documented the name of every recruited suicide bomber as well
as whether he was successful in his operation," an official said. "These
documents have now become available to the Iraqi government."
Sabah Al Shamari, a spokesman for the Sunni-dominated Awakening Council
in the Diyala province, said pro-U.S. tribes have obtained the Al Qaida
records. Al Shamari, based in the Diyala capital of Baqubah, said the
records showed that Al Qaida established training camps in the province's
Hamrin mountains.
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Al Qaida has also been recruiting women to become suicide bombers. Al
Shamari said at least 15 women, some of them widows of operatives, were
being trained for suicide operations.
The records documented 6,000 suicide operations in Iraq since the fall
of the Saddam Hussein regime in April 2003. The bombers have included those
released from the U.S. Navy prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Diyala has been the focus of Al Qaida suicide strikes. On May 1, a women
with an explosive belt and pretending to be pregnant blew herself up outside
a cafe. Later, a male accomplice detonated his suicide belt as
police and medical personnel arrived to evacuate the injured.