Female suicide bomber kills scores of Iraqi women and children

By Mohammed al-Qaisi in Baghdad
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-02-01

[Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images] Iraqis mourn after a suicide bomber killed many innocent civilians Monday (February 1st).

At least 41 Iraqis were killed and more than 100 injured in Baghdad Monday (February 1st) in a terrorist attack targeting Shias travelling on foot to Karbala to mark the Arbaeen of Imam Hussein.

The bombing took place in Boub al-Sham, north of Baghdad, where visitors coming from Diyala province were resting and eating.

"A female suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest, who was disguised with an over-garment and a face veil, blew herself up after penetrating a large crowd of Iraqis," said Mohammed Ali, a commander of the Boub al-Sham Emergency Regiment.

The attack killed mostly women and children, according to Ali. He said more victims would likely die since many were seriously injured.

"This bombing was the most violent of its type in the series of attacks targeting Iraqi visitors marking the Arbaeen event this year," Ali said.

"All those who were inside the tent were either killed or injured," said Jassim Fadhel, a security official in the Boub al-Sham district council. "Blood was all over the place, and the cries of injured women and children continued for several minutes until ambulances arrived at the scene."

Fadhel promised to arrest the planners of the attack "in revenge of the innocent victims".

Hasan Hashim, 33, who was injured in the terrorist attack, had walked more than 30 kilometres with his wife and mother to the tent. They were trying to rest when the bombing took place.

"All of a sudden, we saw a fireball," Hashim said. "I blacked out, and then found myself at the hospital."

When he spoke to Mawtani.com, Hashim was lying wounded at al-Sadr Hospital being treated for serious head and limbs injuries. He did not know if his mother and wife were killed in the bombing.

Hashim's treating physician, Dr. Ferras Ahmed, told Mawtani that "his wife and mother were killed in the bombing. We feared his condition would deteriorate if he knew."

Al-Sadr Hospital received many bodies and injured people. "We are devastated because of the torn bodies of children all around us," Dr. Ahmed said.

"We encountered horrible and sad stories from today's bombing," said Sabah Abdel-Zahra, a hospital medic. "Most of the people who were killed came from one family, and there are entire families who were killed in the terrorist attack."

"However, the most painful thing were women's pleas to leave them on the floor and give priority to providing first-aid to children," he added.

Ambulance teams put five or six people in each vehicle and rescued many people from certain death, according to Abdel-Zahra.

"The medical crew decided to extend working hours in order to finish transferring victims from the scene of attack to the hospital and to treat the injured people," he said.

Meanwhile, Iraqis received the news of the terrorist attack with great sadness and indignation. Dozens of citizens went to donate blood after the hospital announced it needed donors.

"Al-Qaeda has only proved that it is only a blind machine of killing and bloodshed, without discrimination between children or adults," Salman al-Ajeeli, 43, told Mawtani. "They are trying to drag the country into the abyss, and transform it from a country where life and democracy are established into a country devoid of all colours of life."

"However, they will certainly fail, and Iraqis will not be dragged into the sectarian war, as the terrorists wish," he added.

"Al-Qaeda does not want any good for us," said Samira Jawad, 55. "They are using Sunni slogans to create animosity with Shia Iraqis. However, we are too intelligent to be deceived by these lies. Sunnis are also victims of violence and terrorism, exactly like Shias. We have to annihilate al-Qaeda like we annihilate insects."

In other security news, Iraqi police in Ninewa arrested a suicide bomber wearing a vest of explosives, and defused it without causing any human casualties or financial loss.

Khaldoun al-Ubaidi of Ninewa police told Mawtani that "a suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest approached a checkpoint in al-Nur neighborhood, east of Talafar, Monday morning. However, the security forces at the checkpoint managed to stop and arrest him."

Al-Ubaidi said investigations were underway with the suicide bomber to "discover his affiliations and the groups behind him."

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