BAGHDAD, Nov 27: Eighteen women Al Qaeda fighters in northern Iraq turned themselves in to US forces, the US military said on Thursday.

A US military statement said local clerics and relatives of the women had persuaded them to give themselves up on Wednesday and sign a pledge to reconcile with their communities.

It did not say where in northern Iraq, exactly.

This year has seen a sharp rise in the number of suicide bomb attacks by women, a favourite tactic of Al Qaeda because they more easily evade detection by policemen unwilling to search them for explosive vests.Twenty-four women suicide bombers have struck this year, mostly in Iraqs volatile Diyala province, north of Baghdad, killing scores of people.

“The fact that so many potential women suicide bombers turned themselves in ... shows remarkable solidarity as the people of Iraq continue to turn the tide against Al Qaeda and their barbaric methods,” said Major-General Mark P. Hertling, the commander of US forces in northern Iraq.

US officials were not immediately able to comment on what would happen to the women next.—Reuters