WUNRN
Institute for War & Peace
Reporting
Iraq
Crisis Report
Iraq: Special police unit and better intelligence seen by officials as key to tackling escalating problem.
By Emad Al-Sharaa, Zaineb Naji and Tiare Rath (ICR No. 270, 15-Sep-08)
An
all-female civilian security force has been created to try to stem the threat
of women suicide bombers following a summer of bloody attacks.
As well as the unarmed special unit, the authorities are to gather more
intelligence on the trend. But women activists feel the strategy is flawed,
believing it should be aimed at alleviated poverty.
The number of female suicide bombers this year has risen dramatically, with ten
of the estimated 30 attacks in 2008 occurring since June. The United States
military estimates that the figure for 2008 is greater than the total for the
period between 2003 and 2007.
And while the number of security incidents nationwide has dropped by 80 per
cent in the last year, the figure for suicide bombings has remained relatively
constant because of the spike in attacks carried out by women, according to
multi-national forces spokesman Colonel Scott Maw in Baghdad.
Iraqi security forces and the US military say the threat posed by women suicide
bombers has forced them to adopt a new security strategy to address the issue.
One of the biggest problems has been the ease with which women have been able
to evade security personnel. Social and religious custom prevent policemen from
searching women at checkpoints, enabling them to carry out attacks with
explosives under their abbayas – traditional, long, sweeping cloaks.
A key part of the new strategy has been the training of women police for an
unarmed civilian security force and better intelligence gathering. Last month,
the ministry of interior had over 1,400 female officers working throughout the
country.
The force, trained by the Iraqi and US military officials, is recruiting 1,000
additional members and plans to hire 100 investigators.
One of the main tasks of the female officers will be to search women both at
checkpoints and in public areas such as hospitals and schools. They have also
been trained to search vehicles for explosives.
Ministry of Defence spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said Iraqi security officials
believe that recruiting women into the security forces is the best way to
counter the threat of female suicide bombers. He said they are also working to
collect intelligence from suspected would-be bombers who have been arrested,
many of them in Diyala.
Several of the attacks have occurred in the province, where the Sunni Arab
insurgency, which is believed to be recruiting women, remains active. Although
in one of the worst days of violence this year in late July, a female suicide
bomber hit a Kurdish rally in Kirkuk and three women detonated their bombs in a
crowd of Shia pilgrims in Baghdad. The two attacks killed 57.
Iraqi policemen are also being trained to spot female bomber suspects, by
paying attention to unusual behaviour and bulky materials under their cloaks.
The female police units have already been credited with thwarting several
attacks, but their male colleagues have had some successes too: a policeman
stopped a female suicide bomber last month in a case that was caught on tape.
Iraqi security and coalition forces argue that al-Qaeda and its like are using
women to carry out attacks because vastly-improved security has restricted
insurgents’ movement.
Officials say that in a number of instances, the bombers have been drugged or
were mentally handicapped, although they acknowledge that some of the
perpetrators go on missions willingly to avenge the death or arrest of male
family members.
Women activists and members of parliament say the authorities are going about
tackling the problem in the wrong way, and should focus on addressing the
poverty that’s driving many women to despair.
"The problem of women suicide bombers requires social and economic
solutions, not security or military strategies as are being used now,"
said Taha al-Saadi, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s security and defence
committee.
"The government is only working on security solutions without thinking
about social ones."
Al-Saadi, who is from Diyala, agreed with women activists who argue that
offering women financial support would make it harder for al-Qaeda to recruit
them into their ranks.
Samira Al-Musawi, who chairs the women’s committee in parliament, said there
needs to more intelligence on al-Qaeda sleeper cells as these units were the
main recruiters of women bombers. Maw concurred, but said an improvement in the
economy was also important.
The women’s affairs ministry said it is seeking to take a lead on the issue by
organising a conference of academics and women’s experts aimed at providing
advice and guidance for the government. The event –the first of its kind in
Iraq – is expected to be held in the autumn.
“We want women to be supporters of peace,” said Azhar al-Sharbaf, a legal
consultant in the ministry, “not used as a tool for killing."
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