Homeland Security

Suicide & Suicidal Terrorism
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By B Raman

“¦the ISI advised the Sikh terrorist organisations to emulate the LTTE and take to suicide terrorism to achieve their objectives.

A Sikh terrorist trained by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), who was arrested by the Indian authorities in the early 1990s, stated during the interrogation that during the training, the ISI advised the Sikh terrorist organisations to emulate the LTTE and take to suicide terrorism to achieve their objectives. It wanted the arrested person to join the Mumbai (Bombay) Flying Club, take a trainer aircraft up on a solo flight and crash it on the Mumbai off-shore oil platform. He stated that he agreed to do it while in Pakistan, but decided not to do so after his return to India because, according to him, the Sikh religion was against suicide and the Sikh terrorist organisations did not believe in suicide terrorism.

Jihadi organisations practising suicide terrorism use religious arguments for recruiting volunteers and for justifying their acts. They project suicide terrorism as an act of martyrdom willingly undertaken for the cause of Islam. For recruiting volunteers, they not only use religious arguments, but also promise many rewards in the after-world after they commit their acts.

Jihadi organisations practising suicide terrorism use religious arguments for recruiting volunteers and for justifying their acts.

Suicide and suicidal terrorists also differ in their modus operandi. Suicide terrorists use explosives and recently have used hijacked aircraft. Suicidal terrorists prefer hand-held weapons. Initially, suicide terrorists mainly used explosives, which were sought to be carried in a motor-vehicle or a boat driven by a suicide terrorist or on cycles and other means of transport. The suicide terrorist drove the motor  vehicle or other means of transport after packing them with explosives and set them off in the proximity of the target.

In the early 1990s, the LTTE had come to notice for examining the possibility of using micro-lite aircraft for carrying explosives to the proximity of a target and setting them off. According to an interview to an Egyptian paper given in 2003 by Carlos, now in jail in France, the idea of a possible act of suicide terrorism from the air against the two towers of the World Trade Centre in New York was under discussion by Syria-based terrorist groups from the early 1990s. If Carlos is to be believed, bin Laden borrowed his idea for the 9/11 terrorist strikes from them.

“¦the idea of a possible act of suicide terrorism from the air against the two towers of the World Trade Centre in New York was under discussion by Syria-based terrorist groups from the early 1990s.

Successful acts of suicide terrorism involving the transport of explosives in a vehicle led to strengthened physical security measures in the vicinity of higly protected establishments and individuals in order to deny access to suspect vehicles. Construction of physical barriers, stricter checking of vehicles for concealed explosives etc made such acts of suicide terrorism, particularly against hard targets, increasingly difficult.

This led to organisations practising suicide terrorism taking to the human bomb tactics, that is, have the explosives concealed and carried on the body of the suicide terrorist. The LTTE, the Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and the Chechen terrorists extensively resort to this. The increasing use of women as human bombs is attributable to the belief that security personnel tend to be not as thorough in frisking women as they do men. Moreover, self-motivation is stronger and better sustained in women than in men.

The use of suicide terrorism against hard targets such as highly-protected political leaders and combatants as well as against soft targets of special significance such as New York’s World Trade Centre is understandable. It gives them a greater guarantee of success in their operations. Why do terrorists use it against soft targets of no special significance? More innocent civilians have been killed by timed or remotely-controlled explosive devices than by suicide terrorists. In India, more civilians were killed by the timed explosive devices used by terrorists in Mumbai (Bombay) in March 1993 than by suicide terrorists in their subsequent operations.

“¦in their eyes, there is a certain romanticisation of the act of terrorism in the public mind when a suicide terrorist kills himself or herself even if that be for killing others.

When they thus have the capability to cause deaths of civilians in large numbers without resorting to suicide terrorism, why do they use suicide terrorism? Firstly, in their eyes, there is a certain romanticisation of the act of terrorism in the public mind when a suicide terrorist kills himself or herself even if that be for killing others. The media and public opinion moulders unconsciously contribute to this romanticisation by keeping the focus on the suicide terrorist rather than on the victims. Secondly, it creates in others of the same community or religion a desire to emulate which helps in the recruitment of fresh volunteers. And, thirdly, the psychological impact of suicide terrorism not only on public mind, but also on the minds of political leaders and security forces personnel is much more than in the case of other acts of terrorism. A feeling of helplessness comes out in unwise statements such as “there is no protection or defence against suicide terrorism”.

Are suicide terrorists self-motivated or motivated to take to suicide terrorism by the organisations to which they belong? More often than not, suicide terrorists were self-motivated people, who decided on their own to participate in acts of suicide terrorism and volunteered themselves for their mission. Rarely does an organisation go around looking for volunteers willing to undertake suicide missions. Their decision to undertake suicide missions was not an impulsive action, but was a carefully-thought-out one. This explains the fact that suicide terrorists, once launched on a mission, go like a homing pigeon towards their targets and do not develop any fears or second-thoughts on the way to their objective and abandon their mission.

Intelligence and security agencies often try to cover up their failure to prevent acts of suicide terrorism by projecting suicide terrorists as unstoppable.

What are the factors that contribute to such self-motivation? Atrocities by the security forces of which their own relatives and close friends were victims; extreme instances of violation of human rights by the security forces; indiscriminate use of force by the security forces against innocent civilians; anger against their adversaries; and a strong, unshakeable belief in their cause. Are there proved instances of terrorist organisations using intimidation to force recruits to undertake suicide missions, for example, by threatening to kill their dear ones if they do no do so? No.

Intelligence and security agencies often try to cover up their failure to prevent acts of suicide terrorism by projecting suicide terrorists as unstoppable. This is not so. Suicide terrorism against hard targets can be prevented through effective physical security. The LTTE managed to kill Rajiv Gandhi by a suicide terrorist by noticing the habits of negligence of the Tamil Nadu Police and the intelligence agencies and taking advantage of them. Lethargic follow-up action on intercepted communications of the LTTE by the intelligence community also contributed to this tragedy.

It is difficult to prevent suicide terrorism against soft targets without timely precise intelligence. No state can provide physical security to each and every soft target. The only way of reducing the chances of success of suicide terrorism against soft targets is by educating the public and the personnel of such soft targets about the dos and don’ts to prevent suicide terrorism.

Editor’s Pick

How to counter suicide terrorism? Through effective physical security and a psychological warfare (psywar) against organisations using suicide terrorism. Some dos and don’ts:

  • Don’t unconsciously contribute to the romanticisation or glorification of the suicide terrorists by unwise statements. Project them as detestable murderers. Keep the focus of publicity on the victims and away from the suicide terrorists. Seek the co-operation of the media in this regard.
  • Don’t project the suicide terrorists as unstoppable or invincible. Give publicity to cases where suicide terrorists have been thwarted in their missions.
  • Highlight the fact that leaders of terrorist organisations choose to live in safety in comfortable surroundings while sending their subordinates on suicide missions and that there has been no instance of a leader volunteering himself for a suicide mission.
  • Highlight the plight of the families of suicide terrorists due to the terrorist organisations not keeping up their promise to the suicide terrorists to look after their families.
  • Have a small group of officers who keep thinking and planning in their mind as potential suicide terrorists in order to identify gaps in physical security which can be taken advantage of by suicide terrorists and to plug them.
  • Don’t remain satisfied that you have done everything necessary or desirable or possible. Keep telling yourself that there is always one more thing to do for tightening physical security and keep thinking and looking for that one more thing, which has probably not been done.
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The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the Indian Defence Review.

About the Author

B Raman

Former, Director, Institute for Topical Studies, Chennai & Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat. He is the author of The Kaoboys of R&AW, A Terrorist State as a Frontline Ally,  INTELLIGENCE, PAST, PRESENT & FUTUREMumbai 26/11: A Day of Infamy and Terrorism: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.

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