Bombs on two women leave 91 dead in Iraq

BAGHDAD - Two women described as mentally disabled and strapped with remote-control explosives - and possibly used as unwitting suicide bombers - brought carnage yesterday to two pet bazaars, killing at least 91 people in the deadliest day since Washington flooded the capital with extra troops last spring.

Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, Iraq's chief military spokesman in Baghdad, said the women had Down syndrome and might not have known they were on suicide missions, but he gave no further details on how authorities had compiled the evidence. He also said the bombs had been detonated by remote control.

The coordinated blasts - coming 20 minutes apart in different parts of the city - appeared to reinforce U.S. assertions that al-Qaeda in Iraq may be increasingly desperate and running short of able-bodied men willing or available for such missions.

But they also served as a reminder that Iraqi insurgents are constantly shifting their strategies in attempts to unravel recent security gains around the country. Women have been used in ever greater frequency in suicide attacks because they often encounter less scrutiny from security officials.

The twin attacks at the pet markets, however, could mark a disturbing use of unknowing agents of death.

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the bombings proved al-Qaeda was "the most brutal and bankrupt of movements" and would strengthen Iraqi resolve to reject terrorism.

Iraqi officials raised the death toll to 91 from 73 in the early hours of today, but they were unable to immediately provide a casualty breakdown in the two bombings. Police and Interior Ministry officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Earlier, officials had said the first bomb was detonated about 10:20 a.m. in the central al-Ghazl market. Four police and hospital officials said at least 46 people were killed and more than 100 wounded.

Police said the woman wearing the bomb had sold cream in the mornings at the market and was known to locals as "the crazy lady."

The pet bazaar had been bombed repeatedly, but with violence declining, it had regained popularity as a shopping district and place to stroll on Fridays, the Muslim day of prayer.

But yesterday, it was returned to a scene straight out of the worst days of the war. Firefighters scooped up debris scattered among pools of blood, clothing and pigeon carcasses.

A pigeon vendor said the market had been unusually crowded, with people taking advantage of a crisp and clear winter day after a particularly harsh January.

About 20 minutes after the first attack, the second female suicide bomber was blown apart in a bird market in a predominantly Shiite area of southeastern Baghdad. Initial reports indicated as many as 27 people had died and 67 had been wounded, police and hospital officials said.

Recent bombings have frayed Iraqi confidence in the permanence of security gains.

The U.S. military in Iraq said in a statement that it shared "the outrage of the Iraqi people, and we condemn the brutal enemy responsible for these attacks, which bear the hallmarks of being carried out by al-Qaeda in Iraq."

The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, said the bombings showed that a resilient al-Qaeda had "found a different, deadly way" to try to destabilize Iraq.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said the attacks were motivated by revenge and an attempt "to stop the march of history and of our people toward reconciliation." He put the death toll at about 70.

Navy Cmdr. Scott Rye, a U.S. military spokesman, gave far lower casualty figures - seven killed and 23 wounded in the first bombing, and 20 killed and 30 wounded in the second.

Since the start of the war at least 169 people have been killed in at least 17 attacks or attempted attacks by female suicide bombers, including yesterday's bombings, according to Associated Press data.

The most recent previous attack was Jan. 16, when a female suicide bomber detonated her explosives among men preparing for the Ashoura holiday in a Shiite village in Diyala province.

While involving women in such deadly activity violates cultural taboos in Iraq, the U.S. military has warned that al-Qaeda is recruiting women and young people as suicide attackers because extremists are increasingly desperate to thwart security measures.

Women in Iraq often wear abayas, black Islamic robes, and avoid thorough searches at checkpoints because men are not allowed to touch them and there are too few female police.

Even the use of the handicapped in suicide bombings is not unprecedented. In January 2005, Iraq's interior minister said insurgents had used a disabled child in a suicide attack on election day. Police said the child appeared to have Down syndrome.