http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2006/09/21/international/i125508D79.DTLInsurgents are now using unwitting kidnap victims as suicide bombers — seizing them, booby-trapping their cars without their knowledge, then releasing them only to blow up the vehicles by remote control, the Defense Ministry warned Thursday.
The Iraqi announcement — the latest development in the deadly war waged by the insurgency — came as widespread lawlessness swept the capital Thursday with kidnappings, deadly attacks on police, the discovery of more mutilated death squad victims and a brazen daylight bank heist by men dressed as Iraqi soldiers.
It was unclear from the Defense Ministry's statement whether the insurgents are using kidnap victims because they are having trouble finding recruits for suicide missions. Suicide car bombs are responsible for 7 percent of the total Iraqi deaths this year — down considerably from 25 percent of the overall deaths in the last eight months of 2005, according to an Associated Press count.
A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity said he was aware of such incidents but was unable to provide further details. American officials have said in the past that insurgents often tape or handcuff a suicide driver's hands to a car, or bind his foot to the accelerator pedal, to ensure that he did not back out at the last minute. The remains of such hands and feet have been found at blast sites.
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