SUICIDE TERRORISM

Shambhavi Roy,

BML Munjal University

Introduction

Suicide terrorism includes a diversity of violent actions perpetrated by people who are aware that the odds they will return alive are close to nought. It is an act in which an individual personally delivers explosives and detonates them to inflict the greatest possible, killing himself or herself in the process. Suicide bombings are particularly shocking on account of their indiscriminate nature, clearly intending to kill or injure anyone withing range of the explosion, the victims being mostly unsuspecting of civilians (though political figures and military personnel are frequently the main targets), and because of the evident willingness of the bombers to die by their own hands. Suicide terrorism has emerged as a prominent and disturbing form of political violence in the modern era. People deliberately kill themselves just in a attempt to attack other. My article will be delving into the multifaceted nature of the suicide terrorism, I will be further exploring the causes, impacts and the effects it causes. 

Origin

Suicide terrorism is not a new concept which may sound unfamiliar but its origin can be traced back to the centuries. It can occur due to several ideological, political and socio-economic factors. 

1. Religious extremes: Different religious ideologies play a very crucial role in motivating this terrorism. Several groups like Al- Qaeda, and ISIS uses their religious text to justify their actions they recruit individuals and feed all ill about the religion and in this manner, they start targeting ruining their mind or turning them against a particular religion or a state which in result creates several issues as individuals are ready to sacrifice themselves for it thinking it is a noble work they are doing in order to protect their religion. 

2. Psychological Manipulation: They recruit individuals and often involve psychological manipulation, exploiting their personal vulnerabilities and fostering a sense of belongingness and encouraging them with a purpose. Leaders can inspire individuals to embrace martyrdom as a noble and heroic act.

3. Political effect: Suicide terrorism is frequently employed by the groups seeking to address political grievances, such as foreign occupation, attack or any injustices. Like taking the example of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka where they used suicide attackers as a method to fight against the Sri Lankan government to achieve the Tamil Independence.  

4. Social and economic Factors: There are many a times where these attacks are driven by the social and economic factor. Due to poverty, lack of education people start contributing to the manipulation and also sometimes to achieve the social status, and some financial rewards for their families they tend to do attacks so that after they are gone that money can be used up by their families to feed their stomach. 

The strategies and tactics: 

The bombers are distinguished by its deliberate use of the attacker’s death as a central component of the mission. These strategies are well planned:

1. Human Bombs: Individuals wearing the explosive vested or belts detonate themselves in the crowded areas mainly targeting the civilians, military personnel or any political figure. This is the most dangerous method used it basically intends to maximize causalities and media attention. In recent areas, it has become apparent that the primary target for the activation of suicide attackers has become concentrations of civilian populations. In the year, 2002, this inclination reached a high point when 48% of worldwide suicide assaults were directed at civilian populations. 

2. Vehicle- Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIEDs):  The bombers also sometimes drive vehicles which is located of the explosives bombs these are basically for the high-profile targets mainly the governments or any big political figure, they drive these vehicles in order to explode big important government buildings or military buildings. For example, the first suicide aggression in Lebanon was executed by means of a car bomb which was detonated in front of the Iraqi embassy in Beirut, Decemeber,1981. The use of vehicles loaded with explosives remained a common terrorist technique in the Lebanese area in the following years as well. 

How can Suicide Terrorism be explained?

The advent of suicide terrorism in the early 1980s caught security services and citizens off guard in many countries all over the world. For more than two decades scholars from the fields of humanities and social sciences have devoted much time, effort and considerable resources to finding an answer to the riddle of what makes human beings kill so many people and simultaneously sacrifice their own lives, sometimes, apparently, for political ends? Why has suicide terrorism spread around the globe, and so rapidly? And doesn’t this act in effect go against one of the most fundamental instincts of most human beings, that is, the preservation of one’s own life at almost any price? There are several such questions being asked by the scholars they are trying to find the answers by assuming them in place of these attackers and study all the socio and economic factors which compelled them to do so. There are many cases underscoring the problematic aspects of trying to form an exclusive affinity between radical Islam and suicide terrorism in Lebanon in the first half of the 1980s, organisations consisting of the members who mere Muslim yet secular, occasionally, even communist in their ideology which began to cast their lot in with the lethal cadres of suicide bombers. In the Palestine area, which became one of the principal loci of suicide terrorism, a similar tendency can also be detected. 

Impacts and the consequences:

The suicide attackers instill a sense of fear and anxiety within populations. The unpredictable nature of these attacks creates a constant sense of vulnerability, leading to psychological trauma and differences in behavior in daily life. Governments often respond to suicide terrorism with heightened security measures, increase surveillance and military interventions. Many of these responses leads to civil liberties being curtailed and exacerbate existing political tensions. The economic repercussions of suicide terrorism are significant. Costs include direct damage to the infrastructure, healthcare expenses for survivors, and the broader economic impact of disruption of the country’s commerce and tourism. 

Now let us delve into the different case studies pertaining to these attacks:

1. Bail Bombings (Indonesia, 2002): These bombers targeted tourists’ area of Bali and which almost killed 202 people in the attack in which most of them were the foreign tourists who came to visit the beauty of the place but who knew something like that would occur. The attack highlighted the global reach of terrorism and spurred international efforts to combat extremists’ network in Southeast Asia.

2. The 9/11 attack: The suicide attack by the Al-Qaeda on the World Trade centre and the pentagon resulted in nearly 3000 deaths and had profound global repercussions. The attack led to the War on terror, the invasion of the Afghanistan and the significant changes in the global security policies. 

3. Sri Lankan Civil war- The Liberation Tigers of Tiger Eelam (LTTE) extensively used suicide bombings in the fight for Tamil independence. The LTTE’s Black tiger unit was responsible for numerous high-profile attacks, including the assassination of the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. This was the attack which also influenced other attackers worldwide.

4. Paris attack (France, 2015): ISIS operatives carried coordinated suicide bombings and shootings across Paris, Killing 130 people. The attacks targeted public spaces, including a mall, a sports stadium, it highlighted how the urban centres and more vulnerable and prone to this terrorism. 

5. The Kashmir attack: A suicide bomber rammed a car into a bus carrying Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir killed 44 people, where the Pakistan based Jaish-e Mohammad (JeM) claimed the responsibility of the attack.

6. Beslan School Siege (Russia,2004): Chechen militants took over 1,100 people as hostage which also include children in a school in Beslan. The crisis ended in a violent conformation, resulting in over almost 334 deaths, many of them included children as well. This was the most brutal attacks.

Conclusion: 

My basic assumption, therefore, is that suicide terrorism, like other types of terrorism, is a product of an organisations political strategy after it has defined its goals, clarified the options it has in order to realise these goals, and checked the price label attached to each operational method. Suicide terrorism remains one of the most formidable challenges to global security and stability. Its ability to inflict mass causalities, disrupt societies and generate fear among the individuals, it necessitated a comprehensive and adaptive approach to counterterrorism. So, for the motivations and the tactics and the impacts of the suicide terrorism is essential for developing effective strategies to prevent and mitigate the risk of this form of any violence. By addressing the underlying political economic and social factors this enhances the international cooperation by reducing any threat posed by the suicide terrorism and building a more secure and resilient world, where everyone lives happily, without any fear, without any feeling of hatred. The great damage which is achieved by these attacks, especially in terms of the number of the victims, carries with it considerable psychological impact both on the citizens of the country under attack as well as on its policymakers. 

References 

1.Ultius, 'What Makes a Person Become a Suicide Bomber?', Ultius Blog (1 January 2020) https://www.ultius.com/ultius-blog/entry/what-makes-a-person-become-asuicide-bomber.html accessed 6 July 2024. 

2.John Doe, Book Title (Publisher, 2020) https://books.google.com/books?id=_5XBVsosvzYC accessed 6 July 2024.

3.Jane Smith, 'Suicide Terrorism', Academia.edu (Year) https://www.academia.edu/247358/Suicide_Terrorism accessed 6 July 2024.

4.Author Unknown, 'The Importance of Suicide Bombing', IPL.org (2021) https://www.ipl.org/essay/The-Importance-Of-Suicide-Bombing-FKFYLKK6J4DR accessed 6 July 2024.

5.Red Lips High Heels, 'Suicide Bombings in Lebanon: My Opinion', Red Lips High Heels (2022) https://redlipshighheels.com/suicide-bombings-in-lebanon-my-opinion/ accessed 6 July 2024.