By Xinhua,
Baghdad : A 13-year-old Iraqi girl wearing an explosive vest gave herself in to the Iraqi police instead of blowing herself up in the volatile province of Diyala, a U.S. military statement said on Monday.
The incident took place on Sunday in provincial capital city of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, a military statement said.
The Iraqi police identified the suicide vest on the teenager and requested Iraqi and U.S. explosives experts to remove the vest, the statement said.
The girl, who is currently under the custody of the Iraqi police, led the security forces to a second suicide vest in the area, the statement added.
Suicide attacks carried out by women and girls have become increasingly common in Iraq recently. The U.S. military says that the al-Qaida insurgents prefer using female bombers because they can easily escape detection as the Iraqi police are reluctant to search them.
Diyala, has long been a stronghold for al-Qaida militants despite ongoing security crackdown conducted by U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces.