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Increase in suicide blasts - US
16/03/2008 22:45 - (SA)
Baghdad - The explosive suicide vest has become the weapon of choice for al-Qaeda in Iraq, with most jihadists nowadays wearing the lethal garment and the number of suicide attacks on the rise, said the United States military on Sunday.
"There has been an increase in the use of suicide-vest bombers," US military spokesperson Rear-Admiral Gregory Smith told a news conference in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.
"Late in 2007, there were about eight or 10 a month; in the month of February, there were 18. There is an increase," he said.
Military operations by Iraqi and US forces had put the jihadists to flight, leaving them less capable of carrying out car and roadside bombings.
"We are also seeing that average al-Qaeda fighters are wearing suicide vests and before they are captured they are blowing themselves up," said Smith.
"That is something we have not seen earlier. We used to see just the most senior leadership of al-Qaeda wearing suicide vests."
The US military in Iraq also had tracked an increase in requests by al-Qaeda leaders for foreign fighters to become human bombs, said Smith.
"They believe that a suicide bomber wearing a vest can become a useful tool for them to take part in the violence, so we expect them to try to increase the numbers of foreign fighters coming into the country for that purpose."
Number of recruits reduced
However, he added, measures by countries such as Saudi Arabia and Syria to stop foreign fighters slipping across the border into Iraq had reduced the number of available recruits.
Whereas a year ago, about 100 foreign fighters a month were sneaking into Iraq, this number had been reduced to 40 to 50 a month, said Smith.
Many of those making it through were asked to become suicide bombers by their al-Qaeda handlers.
"We do think al-Qaeda will continue to use individuals as suicide bombers because the technique has been largely effective on their part," said Smith.
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