The motivation for a female jihad-martyrdom bomber is murkier than for a male one. The libidinous aspect is not there, but there have been reports that at least some of these female bombers, if not the ones involved in these Baghdad attacks, are women who have come to be considered as having sullied the family’s purity, and as such, their surest path to Paradise is to take hold of Allah’s guarantee of it to those who “kill and are killed” for him (Qur’an 9:111). And that promise, of course, may be attractive also to those who do not otherwise face immediate death.
“At least 64 dead in Baghdad market bombs,” by Hamid Ahmed for Associated Press (thanks to Dav):
BAGHDAD – A female suicide bomber blew herself up at the main pet market in central Baghdad, killing at least 46 people and wounding dozens in the deadliest bombing to strike the capital since 30,000 more American troops began flooding into central Iraq last spring, police said.
About 20 minutes later, a second female suicide bomber struck another bird market in a predominantly Shiite area in southeastern Baghdad. That blast killed at least 18 people and wounded 25, police said.
The attacks shortly before the weekly Islamic call to prayer resounded across the capital were the latest in a series of violent incidents that have been chipping away at Iraqi confidence in the permanence of recent security gains.
The first blast occurred about 10:20 a.m. when the woman detonated explosives hidden under her traditional black robe at the central al-Ghazl market. The pet bazaar had recently re-emerged as a popular shopping venue as Baghdad security improved and a Friday ban on driving was lifted.
Firefighters scooped up debris scattered among pools of blood, clothing and pigeon carcasses.
Police initially said the bomb was hidden in a box of birds but later determined it was a suicide attack after finding the woman’s head, an officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information.
Female suicide bombing is widely believed to be a tool increasingly used by al-Qaida in Iraq.
Many teenage boys were among the 46 people killed and 82 wounded in al-Ghazl, according to police and hospital officials. It was the deadliest explosion in the capital since an April 18 car bombing killed 116 and wounded 145 in central Baghdad….