Studies: Suicide bombers in Iraq are mostly foreign

Thirty-two Iranian-linked militiamen were killed in raids, the U.S. military said.

COMBINED DISPATCHES

WASHINGTON — Suicide bombers in Iraq are overwhelmingly foreigners bent on destabilizing the government and undermining American interests there, two independent studies have concluded.

The studies report that the number of suicide bombings in Iraq has surpassed those conducted worldwide since the early 1980s. The findings suggest that extremists from throughout the region and around the world are fueling Iraq’s violence.

“The war on terrorism — and certainly the war in Iraq — has failed in decreasing the number of suicide attacks and has really radicalized the Muslim world to create this concept of martyrs without borders,” said Mohammed Hafez, a visiting professor at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and the author of one of the two studies.

Identifying nationalities

Hafez, whose new book is “Suicide Bombers in Iraq,” has identified the nationalities of 124 bombers who attacked in Iraq. Of those, the largest number — 53 — were Saudis. Eight apiece came from Italy and Syria, seven from Kuwait, four from Jordan and two each from Belgium, France and Spain. Others came from North and East Africa, South Asia and various Middle Eastern and European countries. Only 18 — 15 percent — were Iraqis.

In the second study, Robert Pape, a University of Chicago professor who runs the Chicago Project on Suicide Terrorism, identified the nationalities of 55 suicide bombers in Iraq. Sixteen were Saudis, seven were Syrians and five were Algerians. Kuwait, Morocco and Tunisia each supplied three bombers. Thirteen — 24 percent — were Iraqi Sunni Muslims.

Pinning down the nationalities of suicide bombers can be tricky because they leave few physical remains, and extremist groups often don’t claim the attacks until much later. The U.S. military says it does some DNA testing to investigate the bombers’ identities.

Killed in raids

Meanwhile, U.S. aircraft and soldiers attacked Shiite militia bomb makers accused of links to Iran in raids Wednesday that coincided with a visit to Tehran by Iraq’s prime minister. The U.S. military said 32 suspected militants were killed and 12 were captured.

The strike in Sadr City — a major Shiite enclave in Baghdad — sought to target a ring believed to be smuggling armor-piercing roadside bombs from Iran. The precision-crafted explosives have become a growing threat to American troops, and the Pentagon has struggled to find ways to protect vehicles against their deadly power.