<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">*The Rise of the Suicide Bomber*
By Stormhunter

A GUIDE

The dramatic rise in suicide bombings across the globe has signaled a new trend in terrorism.  One everyone needs to take note of for his or her own safety.   

Today’s headlines talk about suicide bombings in Israel, but that is not the only place they have been employed.  In the 1980s and 1990’s suicide bombers were active from Sri Lanka to Argentina by a host of different terrorist groups.  The following table illustrates the magnitude of the problem from 1980 through 2000.

 

GROUP/LOCATION

NUMBER

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in

Sri Lanka and in India                                          

168

 

 

Hizbullah and pro-Syrian groups in Lebanon,

 Kuwait and Argentina                                                   

52

 

 

Hamas in Israel                                                                  

22

 

 

The Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) in Turkey                    

15

 

 

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Israel                     

 

8

Al Quaida in East Africa                                                       

 

2

 

 

The Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) in Croatia                           

1

 

 

The Islamic Group (IG) in Pakistan   

 

 

1

 

1

Barbar Khalsa International (BKI) in India                            

 

 

The Armed Islamic Group (GIA) in Algeria                             

1

 

 

 

 

Terrorist Tactics    

 

In order to be successful terrorist rely on certain tactics that rely on secrecy and planning.   Secrecy allows the terrorist to achieve surprise.  Planning includes a thorough reconnaissance and detailed rehearsals to include using scale models of the target.  Additionally the bomber will have help from a support cell that provides housing, transportation, food, intelligence, and security.  Local cell members will also confirm target intelligence.  Jut prior to the actual attack a bomber will conduct a final reconnaissance.   The method the bomber may actually employ is pretty diverse with the following six means having been used in either the Middle East or South Asia.

 

  1. The human-borne suicide IED, also known as the suicide bodysuit (most prevalent).     

 

  1. The vehicle-borne suicide IED. 

 

  1. The motorcycle-borne suicide IED.  

 

  1. The naval craft-borne suicide IED. 

 

 

  1. The scuba diver-borne suicide IED and

 

 

  1. The aerial- (micro light, glider, mini-helicopter) borne suicide IED.

 

Deterrence and Security

 

The traditional concept of anti-terrorist security is where the terrorist is either killed or captured. Suicide bombing changes the equation where now the success of a suicide terrorist operation is dependent on the death of the terrorist.

The suicide terrorist is no longer concerned about death, capture, interrogation, or imprisonment.  With the end of the operation being the death of the attack force the terrorist group no longer has to plan for one of the harder aspects of any operation- the escape.  Counter-measures are possible however.  The Israeli technique is to establish several rings of security in order to prevent the suicide bomber from reaching the intended target.  Tip offs for a possible attack may include increase reconnaissance of a target area or dry runs of the attack on the target.  Additionally based on the variety of attack methods, one must think 360 degrees coverage and the possibility of an aerial attack.

 

 

 

 

Stormhunter

 


All materials at this site not otherwise credited are Copyright (c) 1996-2002 Trip Williams. All rights reserved. May be reproduced for personal use only. Use of any material contained herein is subject to stated terms or written permission.