Six teen 'suicide bombers' arrested

Iraqi troops have arrested six teenage boys, four of whom are pictured here, on suspicion they were forcibly trained by Al-Qaeda to carry out suicide bombings, the interior ministry has said.(AFP/Marwan Ibrahim)

MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) - Iraqi troops on Monday arrested six teenage boys suspected of being forcibly trained by Al-Qaeda to carry out suicide bombings, the interior ministry said.
The boys were rounded up during a house-to-house search in the Sumer neighbourhood of Mosul, the capital of the northern Nineveh province where security forces have been carrying out a major sweep against jihadists.
Interior ministry spokesman Major General Abdul Kareem Khalaf said the six boys aged 15 to 18 were trained by a Saudi national suspected of being an Al-Qaeda operative, who is believed to have died in the military operations.
"They are all teenagers who were preparing to commit a wave of suicide bombings in Mosul," Khalaf said.
The teenagers were paraded before the press on Monday morning, a few hours after their arrest. Jackets filled with explosives were recovered from their hideout.
One of the boys said he was forced to join or risk his mother and sister being raped.
Defence ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari said on Sunday that the operations which began in Nineveh province on May 14 had resulted in the detention of some 1,030 suspects.
He said the ministry estimated that another 2,000 may have fled the US-backed Iraqi army offensive.