3 women held in Iraq suicide bomb plots

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi security forces arrested three women, accusing them of plotting suicide bombings against the country's armed forces, the Interior Ministry spokesman told CNN on Wednesday.

Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf said the women were arrested last week as part of the military offensive in Diyala province, the territory that sprawls north and east of Baghdad.

Khalaf said two of the women "tested positive for explosives residue" and explosives were found in another woman's house. He did not say precisely where or when they were seized. He said the women confessed to planning attacks.

Women are increasingly carrying out suicide attacks in Iraq. Male security forces will not search women and few women have been trained to conduct searches.

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