Al-Qaida's use of the suicide vest, and women to wear them, has become a regular part of its arsenal of terror as coalition military forces kinetically trim their rolls and territory and as Iraqi civilians begin standing up on their own.

U.S. military reports said the explosion occurred Wednesday about 9 a.m. The exact target, if there was one, has not yet been identified, but U.S. military forces nearby rushed to the area and evacuated the wounded to U.S. medical facilities elsewhere.

"This type of attack is very tragic, but it is no surprise that al-Qaida in Iraq chose to attack at this time by using a suicide bomber against civilians," said Army Lt. Col. James Brown of the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

As a result of recent combat operations, al-Qaida is being pushed out of its Diyala strongholds, and efforts are in full swing to bring about local security initiatives and sectarian cooperation, "all of which is putting extreme pressure" on them.

Even before the launch of a new U.S. offensive in Diyala province, the heart of AQI's so-called Islamic Republic of Iraq caliphate, the suicide vest was making a mark.

In Baghdad recently more than a dozen Iraqis were killed when an unidentified person detonated an explosive-laden vest hidden by his clothing during a ceremony honoring the Iraqi army.

In Baqubah, Diyala's capital 35-40 miles north of Baghdad, four were killed and 19 wounded on Christmas when a suicide bomber attacked a funeral procession for two Concerned Local Citizen security volunteers (an armed neighborhood watch organization) murdered by al-Qaida the day before. A second explosion on Christmas killed or injured dozens more.

And at least two persons were killed more recently when a bomber jumped atop a parked police vehicle by a Baqubah bridge and detonated his charge.

"The first suicide bombing we had was at an Internet cafe -- a suicider on a bicycle," said Lt. Col. Ricardo Love, intelligence officer for the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. "About a month and a half ago it took off.

"AQI are on their heels right now, I think. I see these attacks as acts of desperation to break the will of the people to reject them,"

Love says suicide bombers and others involved in explosive attacks in Baqubah are generally males ages 13 to 25. The use of women, however, has a distinct advantage for AQI: The vest is easily concealed and women escape body searches by military forces unless there is a woman soldier present to conduct it.

Love says the reasons the bombers give their lives vary -- for the al-Qaida cause, under duress to save threatened family, or even for money. Informants have said AQI pays bombers or their families in the case of suicide attacks $5,000-$20,000 for successful and spectacular explosions.

"They are targeting the CLCs heavily, together with the police and Iraqi army, tribal and government leaders and, of course, targets of opportunity -- us."

Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has warned Iraqis who cooperated with U.S. forces would "suffer" for betraying their nation and bringing shame to their people by trying to form a reconciliation government.

"Our duty is to foil these dangerous schemes, which try to prevent the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq, which would be a wall of resistance against American schemes to divide Iraq," he said in a tape recording.

CLCs, armed neighborhood watch groups that are paid $10 a day, are a major problem for AQI, Love said. Some were former sectarian militia members who had aligned themselves with AQI early in the insurgency but later were revolted by AQI's wanton violence and cruelty.

AQI does have some small cells in and around Baqubah but is trying to more firmly re-establish itself.

U.S. and Iraqi security force reaction to the uptick in suicide bombings has been pragmatic. In many districts of the city all private vehicle traffic has been banned since August. The only exceptions are food trucks and other essential service vehicles that must use prescribed roads and must pass through security checkpoints. Citizens use either an established, limited public transport system, walk, bicycle or use donkey carts.

"Get back -- now," yelled a U.S. soldier on patrol in the Khatoon district of Baqubah. "Stay away."

The warning by American troops and their Iraqi counterparts while conducting what they call presence patrols is in response to the suicide vest attacks. Civilians on the streets are kept about 150 feet from the soldiers.

First Lt. James Clearly, a fire support officer with the 1st Battalion, says the distancing is necessary to protect the troops as well as civilians, who inevitably suffer in such indiscriminate attacks.

"We and the Iraqi forces get information on these people, and we're certainly disrupting the (suicide) cells," he said. "But they still can do a lot of damage."

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