Shakhid belts fit teenage kamikazes

The teenage suicide bomber, caught by Israeli soldiers at a West Bank checkpoint, said he wanted to reach paradise where 72 virgins were waiting for him.

Hussam Abdo, 16, told the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot, he had learned about paradise in school.

"A river of honey, a river of wine and 72 virgins. Since I have been studying Koran I know about the sweet life that waits there," he said.

He was caught yesterday with a suicide bomb vest strapped to his body at a crowded checkpoint, setting off a tense encounter with soldiers the army said he had been sent to kill, report Scotsman.com

Yesterday, the soldiers suspected that Hussam had something under his sweater and they pointed their rifles. He stopped, raising his hands above his head as the soldiers retreated behind concrete barricades.

"He told us he didn't want to die, he didn't want to blow up," said Lieutenant Tamir Milrad. When the soldiers ordered him to take off the sweater, he immediately complied, revealing a grey vest with explosives packed inside.

The teenager then picked up a pair of scissors the soldiers had sent to him on a yellow army robot, and began cutting away at the vest. Tension at the checkpoint rose as part of the vest came away easily, but the boy struggled with the rest. The boy bomber eventually freed himself from the vest and dropped it onto the road. He was then ordered him to strip to his underpants to make sure there were no other concealed weapons. The soldiers seized him and later detonated his eight-kilogram bomb in a controlled explosion, inform smh.com.au