Iraqi security forces captured a woman said to be responsible for recruiting 80 female suicide bombers, a senior officer said on Tuesday.

"Our security forces have arrested Samira Ahmed Jassim, 51, also known as Um al-Mumeneen, or the mothers of believers, who confessed her responsibility for recruiting 80 as suicide bombers," Major General Qassim Atta told reporters in Baghdad.

Atta said that Jassim, who was captured on Jan. 21, confessed that she is affiliated to the Ansar al-Sunna, an insurgent group close to al-Qaida network.

"The woman confessed responsibility for 28 suicide attacks in different areas in Baghdad and Diyala," Atta said, without saying where the woman was arrested.

Atta also showed reporters a video tape of Jassim confessing during interrogation. She dressed a traditional black Abaya and talked about how she recruit women and prepare them for the attacks.

Jassim sends the women to a farm where terrorists provide the suicide bombers with bombs and then she take them to the targeted places, according to Atta.

Suicide attacks carried out by women have become increasingly common in Iraq. The U.S. military says that al-Qaida insurgents prefer using female bombers because they can easily escape detection as the Iraqi police are reluctant to search them.

(Xinhua News Agency February 4, 2009)