Al-Qaeda recruiting mentally challenged individuals for suicide attacks

Officials said al-Qaeda is using mentally challenged people because young people are no longer joining. Pictured above, residents survey damage after a January suicide bombing in Baghdad. [Saad Shalash/Reuters]

Officials said al-Qaeda is using mentally challenged people because young people are no longer joining. Pictured above, residents survey damage after a January suicide bombing in Baghdad. [Saad Shalash/Reuters]

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Iraqi security officials said al-Qaeda in Iraq is largely resorting to recruiting mentally challenged individuals to carry out suicide operations because potential young recruits are refusing to join the organisation.

"Thirty per cent of the recent suicide bombings were conducted by individuals who are mentally challenged or are suffering from psychological disorders," said Col. Hikmat Mahmoud al-Masari, director of media and public relations at the Interior Ministry.

"They did not know or were unaware of what they were doing when al-Qaeda sent them to detonate in the middle of crowds of people," he added.

"Intelligence reports confirm that al-Qaeda is now using the mentally challenged because of a serious shortage of suicide bombers in its ranks," al-Masari said.

"This is the result of increased security measures at the borders, the decline in the number of foreign terrorists entering Iraq and the disinterest of citizens, especially the young, to listen to slogans and calls from terrorist leaders because they no longer believe in them," al-Masari said.

He also attributed it to the decline in funding, which al-Qaeda needs "to recruit and brainwash new members".

Al-Masari said Iraqi security forces are working closely with civil society organisations to provide protection to the mentally challenged by alerting their parents or sending them to special care centres in Baghdad despite the small number of such facilities.

Al-Qaeda gunmen admit to using mentally challenged

Iraqi police forces arrested an armed cell suspected of belonging to al-Qaeda on July 21st that was involved in recruiting mentally challenged individuals for suicide operations.

"A special unit from the Iraqi Police First Rangers Battalion in Anbar province raided an old residential building overlooking the Euphrates River in the Tameem district in western Ramadi after receiving information from locals about suspects inside the building," said police spokesperson Col. Rahim Zaban.

Zaban said security forces found six gunmen holding three mentally challenged persons aged between 15 and 25 inside a dark basement. They were found in extremely poor health.

"The gunmen admitted during interrogation that they collected these young people from the streets and were holding them for a few days in that house with the intent of equipping them with remote-controlled explosives belts, then allowing them to roam in the markets or approach security centres to carry out heinous terrorist attacks," he said.

Zaban said the initial interrogation revealed that the suspects were involved in a suicide operation involving an autistic person in front of an ice cream shop in Fallujah.

The attack targeted former Fallujah police chief Colonel Saadoun Rajab, leaving him seriously wounded and killing several security personnel.

Islam calls for care of mentally ill

"It is common knowledge that suicide operations are often conducted by individuals who have lost interest in life either because society has brushed them aside, or they have come to believe in ill-conceived ideas," said Khalil al-Hayess, terrorism expert and leading figure in the Sahwa movement. "But to force a person to commit suicide and kill others with him is something only al-Qaeda would do."

"Al-Qaeda's ideology considers the mentally afflicted as mere animals who can be killed to serve a certain purpose, and their life has no value because they have lost their minds. This is the opposite of what is stated in the Islamic faith about caring for these patients three times more than those suffering from physical illnesses," al-Hayess said.

Efan al-Essawi, a member of parliament's defence and security committee, called for continued international support to confront what he dubbed as dangerous international practice.

"Using the mentally ill is evidence of the barbarity of the enemy that Iraqis are facing," he said. "It is also a sign of crisis inside al-Qaeda in recruiting new suicidal members, because of the absence of popular support for the group in Iraq."

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    صادق هاشم

    2012-8-31

    Iraq suffered for a long time from the terrorist operations that led to the death of many innocent people. The government should have protected their lives and should have achieved security and stability in the Iraqi street. Thus, the government is required to quickly catch the terrorists and hand them over to fair and quick trials. This will lead to issuing quick and fair verdicts which will make the people in Baghdad feel that terrorism will receive the retribution it deserves. Establishing justice in Iraq and sentencing the terrorists involved in terrorist operations will lead to assuring the spirits of the Iraqi people who have been suffering from such terrorist operations which neither the mind nor the religion accepts. Eliminating terrorism will lead to the stability of the security situation which will help in increasing investment and job opportunities for the youth. So, eliminating terrorism does not only affect the social aspect, but political, economic and financial aspects too. Elimination of the individuals who plan for the radical thought and terrorist operations would defeat their attempts to adopt this kind of thinking.

  • العربي

    2012-8-27

    Arabs in particular and the world in general condemn the acts of terrorist organizations in Iraq. In fact, all the lives which have been claimed because of terrorism represent a mark of disgrace for the entire world given that terrorism does not mean a nation in particular but it rather means the extermination of security of the entire world. In fact, the Iraqi youth, children and women have been murdered unlawfully only because they are Arabs. Thus, the developed and major countries in the world must support Iraq under this overwhelming terrorism which caused the immigration of a lot of Iraqis for fear of death and hope for a secure life. We are unaware that there are well-known people in the world who are supporting these terrorist organizations in Iraq. I wonder who accepts such injustice against unarmed people.

  • صبحي عامر

    2012-8-27

    Over the years, Iraq was one of the historic States that contributed to the dissemination of science and technology, and contributed to the development and the evolution of the ancient world. It has had a long history in the various sciences but suffered from terrorism as a result of the extremism that is destroying the country and spreading discord everywhere. The terrorist operations in Iraq are heinous and rejected by all the revealed religions. The explosions occurring in Iraq kill the children, the girls and men, and destroy the neighborhoods, buildings, streets, and roads, and eliminate the various manifestations of the State. They destroyed the beautiful Iraq and the natural life as well as eliminated the people's sense of security, spread violence and hatred, turned Iraq into destruction demolished the buildings and factories, spread death and murder throughout the great ancient Iraq, and spread the hatred around the country among the sects of the society. Terrorism has spread and gotten in Iraq as a result of the discord existing among the social sects, particularly the Sunnis, the Shiites and Kurds. However, Iraq is a State of multiple spectra and doctrines. When the terrorist operations started and continued after the fall of Baghdad, the terrorist operations and the explosions are spread. Therefore, the reform of the political process in Iraq must be done as well as the development of the Iraqi State and development of an Iraqi Constitution that brings all the minorities and the different communities in one direction for the renaissance of the Iraqi State. Thus, there will be the triumph of peace and end of extremism and terrorism through the national reconciliation, serenity and love among the citizens.

  • كاظم جواد

    2012-8-26

    Yes, I am certain that terrorists can do anything to seize Iraq!

  • ابو رشدي

    2012-8-22

    The terrorist explosions are a fundamental and serious problem that faces Iraq and its government and forces. Terrorist acts carried out by extremist groups are causing lots of suffering and pain to the Iraqi people. These groups stand against the Iraqi government in order to destroy, kill its people. What kind of mind do they have? Certainly, they are the most stupid groups throughout history. We are here to strongly denounce the doing of these terrorist movements and extremist groups such as explosions and dirty operations they carried out to harm the simple Iraqi citizens.

  • ضد الارهاب

    2012-8-22

    The terrorist explosions that took place in Iraq have serious danger on the foreign policy of Iraq as this nation suffered a lot recently and these good Iraqi people suffered a lot and cried for a long time because of this true suffering that they faced due to the terrorist accidents. These terrorist explosions killed so many of the Iraqi people’s sons. However, we will concentrate here on the damages caused by these dangerous terrorist explosions and the crises caused to the foreign policy for Iraq. Certainly, these evil terrorist explosions aim at a lot of vital buildings and facilities and mostly aim at a lot of vital buildings that concern the foreign relations for Iraq. This is for sure to create the major riot and the biggest damage for the nation of Iraq and its people. Hence, the troubles that bring about serious damages on the foreign policy will start. For example, the explosion of a foreign embassy will certainly result in gross problems with the country of this embassy that exploded in a terrorist operation by terrorist movements and extremist groups. Therefore, a lot of diplomatic crises and political issues will happen to Iraq in its relationship with that country due to the fact that the Iraqi Government and its force are unable to secure this vital facility of the embassy of this country. Hence, we strongly denounce these mean terrorist explosions that are done by a group of outlaws and separatists from Islam as terrorism has no religion.

  • سيدمهدي النوري

    2012-8-20

    What is al-Qaeda? It is a group of secret systems of some countries. They were formed in two or more countries. Their duty is mainly implanting and causing feuds and disunity between Muslims via strong financial sponsoring and help of some Arab rulers, especially from a country in the Arab Gulf.

  • صديق فوزي

    2012-8-20

    There is no difference to the murder, destruction and bloodshed the terrorist groups are committing that embody an ugly image of the culture of terrorism, murder, fanaticism and evidence that terrorism is the product of extremism and when the extremists, through their distorted and sick ideas, try to add religious Holiness for their political and ideological projects that result from the terrorist acts. The scope of the threat of terrorism extended to include humans, religion, reason, freedom and life. There is no doubt that terrorism is the first and most dangerous enemy for the best interests of all the countries, which has experienced it and are still paying dearly for its high and continuous bills. That’s why, terrorism nowadays has become a project to assassinate the future of such countries. Let’s not mention what it has from theological extermination thoughts and bloody crimes. Forming a definite danger on the freedom and common human values, which have no room for violence, bloodshed and the mentality of terrorism. It cannot and will not change. We must know that their ideas about resistance and ejecting the foreign forces are just an excuse for their dirty operations to kill and booby-trap the cars, the destruction of the buildings, and displacement of the people.

  • ابو عيسى

    2012-8-20

    The Iraqis are the victims of the terrorists and terrorism, which they have brought and spread its culture of terror and murder among the young people and among other categories of the community. And they haven’t stopped behaving and exploding themselves as if they don't have any awareness. And as if the ones who are dying are not human beings and are not related to them by any blood,doctrine or religion.

  • يعقوب

    2012-8-20

    The terrorist mentality, no doubt, is a mentality based on the rules that could lead its supporters to follow the dictates of their sick minds and their plans that are intended to destroy the nation. And those terrorist groups are trying to exploit some aspects which have a significant impact on the psychic of the unemployed youth precisely to make it an incubator for terrorism. They are trying to implicate as many as possible of them in their acts of terrorism and bombings that we always see over and over again in which many innocent people are the victims. And the one who enters the sector of terrorism, whatever his circumstances are, must have a conscience to torment him or the organization with which he is working. And it must be known if his conscience hasn’t tormented him and makes him withdraw the bad decision that he has taken towards his country and family. He must know that everyone will give him up including his community and family because a man who has lost his conscience and has jealousy on the innocent of his country men whom his terrorist colleagues murdered and killed with their terrorist bombings. That’s why, many Iraqi families have taken the bold and right decision where they have reported and guided about where their children and parents who are engaged to work in the ranks of the terrorist organizations are, because these acts have reached an intolerable level. And the level of their crimes has reached the highest level that it has never reached before.

  • صبري

    2012-8-20

    The terrorist groups have began to show their extremism and brutality where they have began their series of crimes that have proliferated and are not finished yet .Those extremist terrorist groups have committed crimes with the utmost brutality possible that can come to the mind of a human. Thousands crimes are planned and of varied styles. The patterns of the murder have been formed and varied for these terrorist groups from murder by shooting in the middle of the road without shame or timidly committing such brutal bombing operations. They have prepared many vehicles and cars, and equipped them with a huge amount of bombs of top caliber. And they have made these vehicles penetrate the ranks of the Iraqi citizens. They choose the largest crowds and the largest groupings. As for their bombing operations, they have also targeted the Iraqi Private Forces Men. They were the first and the most powerful confronters to these terrorist groups. Iraq lost thousands of honorable citizens during these brutal operations. This is for the brutally of those terrorist groups, but intellectual deviation has also appeared in these terrorist organizations. They have justified all this deluge and massive quantity of crimes which have reached the maximum level of the mad savagery and bloody injustice behind the curtain of the Islamic religion and its protection against the enemies of Islam. In fact, they aim for another goal. The great and ultimate goal of those terrorist groups is the complete rule of the great land of Iraq. And their steps in this regard have begun trying to plant horror and fear in the hearts and minds of the people of Iraq by a continuous series of murders.

  • صالح منصور

    2012-8-20

    They have been treated with great oppression; the inhabitants and the citizens of the great Iraq by these terrorist groups and organizations. And no one from all the Arab countries provides assistance that will take them away from the injustice under the terrorists and oppressors. Many of the finest youth of Iraq, but rather thousands of the most beautiful sons of Iraq, have been lost in the harshest, most heinous, and the ugliest ways of killing by the terrorist organizations even before they started them.

  • ياسين حمدي

    2012-8-20

    One of the most terrible crimes that have been committed by the terrorist organizations and the terrorists is the damage to the reputation of Islam and all the Muslims. Since the moment of their appearance, they claim to be religious and that they came for the victory of Islam and Muslims, a few days after, they started a series of savage crimes that are almost endless and the media in television programs and in the news worldwide transfer the mysterious image without any explanation until all the world believes that all Muslims are criminals as they see and hear about the crimes of the terrorists in television news. They do not know and are not aware that Islam is purely innocent of all that has been committed by the hands of these criminals and terrorists.

  • سلطان محمد

    2012-8-20

    I would like to stress that all the terrorist operations that occur in Iraq raises my anger, but rather the anger of the entire Arab world, where Allah repudiated of all any blood that is shed without any reason. It is also not accepted by any heavenly religion; what is happening in Iraq now that we hear about and see every day.

  • وسام غني

    2012-8-20

    In fact, I can't find the words that describe the extent of the criminality of the terrorist operations and the extent of the harm that they caused in the lands where the terrorist operations took place and unfortunately, we find that they are using all their power and efforts for the destruction of these lands and they try to discover new ways to torture the occupied people. It is strange and raises anger among many people both in the occupied territories or people that watch the various types of terrorism through the news on the television screens that they try to find justifications for those acts, which they make from killing these innocent people and the arrest of thousands of people, the killing of children, and the rape of women, which are the most heinous crimes, and the violations of dignities and torturing them with the various forms of punishment, the demolition of houses, and nevertheless, we find them providing many justifications for killing the civilians that such terrorist attacks is a must to get their lands back, but rather, we find among the justifications, that God imposed on them in order to defend their dignity or to defend their country, and unfortunately, we find that they're convinced of that. Thus, there are many justifications which we hear when we try to blame them or prevent them from doing that, which outraged us and what outraged us more is that these terrorist groups use verses from the Qur'an and Hadith to justify and show that what they are doing are permissible by God, but rather, God blesses them and in fact, God is innocent of them until the day of resurrection.

  • ازهر جميل

    2012-8-20

    If we are to talk about the suffering of the Iraqis from terrorism, we would not find the words that could describe the extent of such suffering endured by the Iraqi people as a result of the various terrorist operations they witnessed, but rather live with every day and even every hour over the years. We see, every day in the television, hundreds of dead people and the raping of many women in addition to the demolition of houses, killing of many children, arresting of many people and their exposure to the toughest kinds of torment, creating fear and terror in the hearts of the Iraqi people who have suffered recently from the terrorist car bombs aimed at killing many people, the destruction of many homes, and hence, many terrorist operations relentless to the Iraqi people.

  • جاسم

    2012-8-18

    The defect lies in the system of secret services. They do not care!

  • شيماء عبد الله

    2012-8-16

    I demand from the Iraqi government to follow strict and serious procedures in facing terrorism and the terrorists as the government will be able to get rid of the internal corruption and take care of the people. The Iraqi government should work for it, not for themselves or for authority or for money and control, but all of that is in vain. I need the Iraqi government to work seriously and get rid of terrorism, the terrorists and extremists by using modern methods in chasing the terrorists, arresting them, to be executed immediately because they have followers in other countries that will go to Iraq to free their jailed followers to perform new terrorist acts. The Iraqi government won’t recognize who performed that, but then they publish on the Internet that they are the followers of those who are detained by the Iraqi government in the jails. Then, the government will be afraid of those murderers, so they will release the jailed criminals till they calm down and get away from Iraq, and leave without any disturbances or internal conflicts as this is called in difference while the government should intensify the search for these murderers and try all the ways and methods to arrest them, but it is subject to the terrorists and this results in the increase of violence in Iraq and I need from the government not to leave any terrorist or any suspected Iraqi man, but they should get rid of him immediately.

  • أنعام أسماعيل

    2012-8-16

    Iraq is exposed to the hardest type of terrorism by the existing organizations, which resulted in the death of many Iraqi people. The terrorist attacks in Iraq do not target specific groups or specific persons but they target all the categories. They killed politicians, thinkers, civilians, leaders, children, and the innocents without looking for their identity. They only kill whenever and wherever they want. These acts do not satisfy God or anyone else. As a result of these terrorist attacks in Iraq, there should be demonstrations as well as protests by the leaders and presidents of the neighboring countries in order to face aggression.

  • زينه عبد الخالق

    2012-8-16

    Terrorists treated the citizens as if they are a herd of animals. They trapped them and then they killed them without regard for their humanity or the lives they lost. From the ugliest crimes is also the targeting of the church of Our Lady of Salvation and the aim of this crime was not to kill Christians but to terrorize women and children because most of the dead were men; they did so to force the Christians to leave Iraq and to isolate them from the rest of the citizens and not to have any participation in the state as if this state was never for them. For these terrorist acts the country should take tougher penalities on those who were arrested from these operations in order to be an example to others.

  • غانم يوسف

    2012-8-16

    Terrorism means terror and fear; the terrorist organizations use violence and terror against civilians and Iraqi citizens, which leads to the weakness of the morale of the civilians. Terrorism targets civilian Aircrafts, kidnaps their passengers and implements terrorist acts in the crowded cities to get rid of a large number of civilians and politicians.

  • عقيل جبار

    2012-8-16

    Do justice and fairness mean that terrorism kill the people and the peaceful citizens in Iraq mercilessly? Where is the humanitarian conscience, if any? Those terrorists kill the women, elders and children in Iraq, and the paradox is that they raise fake slogans that no one believes and call for the liberation of Iraq and jihad as well as helping the oppressed people in addition to a package of the religious slogans. How do they make these slogans while they target the people randomly and used the children and women as cards to create havoc in Iraq through killing and targeting them repeatedly? Iraq still witnesses bloody and painful scenes because of the civilian victims that they offer from time to time in the operations and the bombings that the terrorists carry out in different areas. The terrorists do not know God and they do not fear Him. They kill the civilians in Iraq as if they do not deserve life according to the rules of the terrorists, who do not know God and do not fear him. The criminal operations exceeded all the proper limits and thousands of victims fell because of these acts. The terrorist organizations killed people and looted the properties of our home, which suffered from the criminal acts. These movements are insane and we should not consider them as humans because of their criminal act that the committed against the innocent Iraqis who committed nothing wrong. They paid the price form their blood because of these criminal acts.

  • عيسى حمود

    2012-8-16

    We lost many innocent Iraqi civilians who were killed at the hands of the blind Takfir and terrorism that killed many innocent Iraqis and committed the most horrible crimes against them. the crimes of the terrorist and criminal organizations embitter the lives of the Iraqis more and more and they lose many martyrs of the innocents at the hands of those fool criminals, who follow no religion or honor because they kill the innocents and target the civilians with the car bombs that carry hundreds of the tons of explosives and target the innocents. The suffering of the Iraqi people because of terrorism and its barbarian acts is indescribable. Iraq faces the most vicious terrorist attacks that cause long daily suffering and disasters to all Iraqis. Terrorism did not spare anyone of the Iraqi people and terrorism targeted e everything in the governorates and the Iraqi cities. This suffering increases every day because of the massive crimes that are being committed against the innocent Iraqi civilians.