Pat Dollard

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BAGHDAD – A woman wearing a vest lined with explosives blew herself up near Shiite worshippers in turbulent Diyala province north of the capital Wednesday, killing nine of them—the latest in a growing number of female suicide attacks.
Six people were wounded in the bombing in Khan Bani Saad, a town nine miles south of Baqouba, Diyala’s provincial capital, police said.

Although female suicide bombings have been fairly rare in Iraq, extremists have been using women more frequently in recent months. U.S. officials say this indicates the militants are running short of male volunteers. However, it also could be that al-Qaida in Iraq believes women are less likely than men to be searched and that explosives are easier to conceal under women’s clothing.

Wednesday’s bombing was the fourth female suicide attack in Iraq since November. All have taken place in Diyala, which has been a major focus of a nationwide campaign the U.S. military launched last week against al-Qaida in Iraq and other Sunni extremists.

According to residents and police, the woman detonated her explosives when she saw Shiite men in black about 50 yards from a mosque making preparations for a ceremony marking Ashoura, the holiest day in the Shiite calendar.

(AP)