BAGHDAD: A woman suicide bomber mingling with a crowd of people in Baghdad detonated an explosives belt Monday, killing at least 54 people.
The bombing was the first major strike this year against Shiites making their way to the southern city of Kerbala to mark a religious occasion. It came as a security official warned of a possible increase in attacks by insurgents using new tactics to bypass bomb-detection methods.
The bombing raises fears of an escalation of attacks as hundreds of thousands of people head to Kerbala to mark on Friday the end of 40 days of mourning following the anniversary of the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
The bomber hid the explosives underneath an abaya as she joined a group of people on the outskirts of Baghdad’s Shaab neighborhood, said military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim Al-Moussawi.
The bomber set off the blast as she lined up with other women to be searched by women security guards at a checkpoint inside a tent, Al-Moussawi said.
A police officer said 54 people, including 18 women and 12 children, were killed and 117 wounded. A hospital official confirmed the casualties.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene in the minutes after the blast. Raheem Kadhom, 35, said he was standing nearby when a huge fireball erupted in the midst of the people. People were “on the ground, covered in blood and crying for help,” he said. “Banners were all over the ground and covered in blood.”
The blast was so powerful it knocked some out of their slippers and shoes, which were scattered across the ground, he said, adding people put the wounded in cars, taking them to hospitals rather than wait for ambulances.
Despite an overall decline in violence in Iraq, Al-Qaeda and other extremists have routinely targeted a section of the community in an attempt to stoke sectarian strife and weaken the government.
In February last year, a woman suicide bomber attacked a tent filled with women and children resting during the journey to Kerbala, killing 40 people and wounding 60 others.
A month before that, a suicide bomber dressed in women’s clothing and hiding among Iranian visitors killed more than three dozen people outside a mosque in Baghdad’s Kazimiyah neighborhood.
Security forces were put on alert shortly after Monday’s attack, Al-Moussawi said. “We informed all checkpoints to be careful and to intensify the search procedures,” he said.
Iraqi authorities lack enough policewomen to conduct searches of women travelers at most checkpoints, and security forces have been reluctant to use bomb-sniffing dogs against people because of cultural sensitivities.
Al-Moussawi warned insurgent groups were using new tactics to smuggle explosives past security forces. “Terrorist groups have come up with ways to hide explosive substances that cannot be detected with bomb detector sets,” he said in a statement posted on his website.
