
“Taking no chances”
“But police were taking no chances, with one man putting his entire body weight on top of the suicide bomber (still strapped with explosives), another binding his wrists with rope, and a third man standing on his legs.” “Pictured: The moment teenage suicide bomber was wrestled to the ground by Iraqi police,” by Adrienne Agg for the Daily Mail, May 1 (thanks to Alexandre):
With his vest stuffed with explosives, this young man was hoping to kill himself and dozens of worshipers inside a Shi’ite mosque in Iraq.
But in extraordinary scenes, police and security officials wrangled the teenager to the ground moments before he entered the building.
With blood streaming from his head, possibly from hitting the hard ground, the 19-year-old fell unconscious.
But police were taking no chances, with one man putting his entire body weight on top of the suicide bomber (still strapped with explosives), another binding his wrists with rope, and a third man standing on his legs.
Another image shows the slight man lying unconscious on a bed, with his suicide vest having being removed.
His eyes are closed, and his face has a strange sheen. Also striking are his protruding ribs and the red marks around his wrists where the rope was tied.
The failed attack was at a mosque in Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad.
It comes two days after another failed suicide attack where a woman, disguised as a student, detonated a bomb at Ankara University in Turkey.
The only person injured was herself.
Latest Iraqi government figures show that 290 civilians were killed in April in violent bombing attacks.
Fears are growing that recent attacks, many of them targeting Shi’ite pilgrims, could push Iraq back into the sectarian conflict unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Suicide bombs killed 150 people over two days last week, many of whom were pilgrims visiting Shi’ite holy sites from neighbouring Iran…