Suicide bombing

A suicide bombing is an attack using a bomb in which the individual(s) carrying the explosive materials composing the bomb intend(s) and expect(s) to die upon detonation (see suicide).

History

Background

The concept of self-sacrifice has long been a part of war. From the earliest days of honoring fallen soldiers as heroes, those who sacrifice themselves to further a political, moral, or cultural ideology have been and are still highly regarded figures in their respective societies. Soldiers who lay down their lives to protect their comrades are commonly awarded the highest recognition for courage in battle, while those who survive combat are honored for their physical and psychological sacrifice. An example for such self-sacrifice in warfare in medieval legend is Arnold von Winkelried. The earliest reference of a suicide attack outside a context of warfare is the biblical story of Samson:

Related Topics:
Heroes - Arnold von Winkelried - Samson

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:And Samson said, 'Let me die with the Philistines!' And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. (Judges 16:30)

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During the Crusades, the Knights Templar destroyed one of their own ships, killing 140 Christians in order to kill ten times as many Muslims. Another early example of suicide bombing occurred during the Belgian Revolution, when the Dutch Lt. Jan van Speijk detonated his own ship in the harbour of Antwerp to prevent being captured by Belgians.

Related Topics:
Crusades - Knights Templar - Belgian Revolution - Dutch - Jan van Speijk - Antwerp

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The act of deliberately destroying oneself to inflict harm on an enemy is more restricted to modern times and the era of explosives. The line between the two is considered by some a matter of subjectivity, as in the argument that many WWII soldiers killed were "martyrs" (in the sense that they were to suffer for the sake of a principle, rather than dying as the penalty for refusing to renounce a belief) because their life expectancy in combat was very low—often averaging only two or three months.

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The ritual act of self-sacrifice during combat appeared in a large scale at the end of World War II with the Japanese kamikaze bombers. In these attacks, airplanes were used as flying bombs. Later in the war, as Japan became more desperate, this act became formalized and ritualized, as planes were outfitted with explosives specific to the task of a suicide mission. Kamikaze strikes were a weapon of symmetric war used by the Empire of Japan chiefly against United States Navy aircraft carriers.

Related Topics:
World War II - Japan - Kamikaze - Empire of Japan - United States Navy - Aircraft carrier

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The Japanese Navy also used both one and two man piloted torpedoes called kaitens on suicide missions. Although sometimes called midget submarines, these were modified versions of the unmanned torpedoes of the time and are distinct from the torpedo-firing midget submarines used earlier in the war, which were designed to infiltrate shore defences and return to a mother ship after firing their torpedoes. Though extremely hazardous, these midget submarine attacks were not technically suicide missions; while the early kaitens were equipped with escape hatches, there is no evidence that they were ever used or that the pilots had any intention of using them. Later kaitens, by contrast, provided no means of escape.

Related Topics:
Torpedo - Kaiten - Midget submarine

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After aiming a two-person kaiten at their target, the two crew members traditionally embraced and shot each other in the head. Social support for such choices was strong, due in part to Japanese cultural history, in which seppuku, honorable suicide, was part of samurai duty. It was also fostered and indoctrinated by the Imperial program to persuade, often through coercion (such as through doping), the Japanese soldiers to commit these acts.

Related Topics:
Seppuku - Samurai

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Following World War II, Viet Minh "death volunteers" were used against the French colonial army.

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In 1972 in the hall of the Lod aeroport in Tel-Aviv (Israel), three Japanese used grenades and automatic rifles to kill 26 people and wound more than a hundred. The group belonged to the Japanese Red Army (JRA) a terrorist organisation created in 1969 and allied to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Until then, no group involved in terrorism has previously conducted such a suicide operation in Israel. Other members of the JRA became instructors in martial art and Kamikaze operations at several Hezbollah training camps bringing the suicide techniques to the middle east.

Related Topics:
Japanese Red Army - Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - Kamikaze - Hezbollah

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1980s to present

Lebanon, during its civil war, saw the first modern suicide bombing: the Islamic Dawa Party's car bombing of the Iraqi embassy in Beirut, in December 1981. Hezbollah's bombing of the U.S. embassy in April 1983 and attack on United States Marine and French barracks in October 1983 brought suicide bombings international attention. Other parties to the civil war were quick to adopt the tactic, and by 1999 factions such as Hezbollah, the Amal Movement, the Ba'ath Party, and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (which sent the first female suicide bomber in 1986) had carried out around 50 suicide bombings between them. Hezbollah was the only one to attack overseas, bombing the Israeli embassy (and possibly the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association building) in Buenos Aires; as its military and political power have grown, it has since abandoned the tactic.

Related Topics:
Its civil war - Islamic Dawa Party - Car bomb - Beirut - Hezbollah - Bombing of the U.S. embassy in April 1983 - Attack on United States Marine and French barracks - Amal Movement - Ba'ath Party - Syrian Social Nationalist Party - Female suicide bomber - Bombing the Israeli embassy - Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association building - Buenos Aires

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Lebanon saw the first bombing, but it was the Tamil Tigers who perfected the tactic and inspired its use elsewhere. Their Black Tiger unit have committed between 76 and 168 (estimates vary) suicide bombings since 1987, using more than 240 attackers. Their victims included former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi (killed by Thenmuli Rajaratnam), many prominent Lankan leaders (among them the late PM Ranasinghe Premadasa), Colombo's Central Bank, and even warships.

Related Topics:
Tamil Tigers - Black Tiger - 1987 - Indian Prime Minister - Rajiv Gandhi - Thenmuli Rajaratnam - Ranasinghe Premadasa - Colombo - Central Bank

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In Northern Ireland, in the early 1990s, the IRA forced men to become suicide bombers by threatening their families. The men were forced to drive vehicles containing bombs at British army or Royal Ulster Constabulary bases.

Related Topics:
Northern Ireland - IRA - British army - Royal Ulster Constabulary

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Suicide bombing has, since 1993, been a particularly popular tactic amongst some Palestinian groups, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. Bombers affiliated with these groups often use so-called "suicide belts", explosive devices (often including shrapnel) designed to be strapped to the body under clothing. In order to maximise the loss of life, the bombers may seek out cafés or city buses crowded with people at rush hour, or less commonly a military target (for example, soldiers waiting for transport at roadside). By seeking enclosed locations, a successful bomber usually kills a number of people.

Related Topics:
Palestinian - Hamas - Islamic Jihad - Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade - Suicide belts - Shrapnel

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Palestinian television has aired a number of music videos and announcements that promote eternal reward for children who seek "shahada" http://www.pmw.org.il/tv%20part1.html, which Palestinian Media Watch has claimed is "Islamic motivation of suicide terrorists".http://www.pmw.org.il/index.html The Chicago Tribune has documented the concern of Palestinian parents that their children are encouraged to take part in suicide operations.http://www.eufunding.org/Textbooks/EuropesPalestinianChildren.html Israeli sources have also alleged that Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah operate "Paradise Camps," training children as young as 11 to become suicide bombers. http://www.adl.org/PresRele/IslME_62/4153_62.asphttp://www.cnsnews.com/ForeignBureaus/archive/200107/For20010723d.html

Related Topics:
Shahada - The Chicago Tribune

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(The first explosive suicide attack of the modern Israeli-Palestinian conflict, interestingly, was carried out by a Japanese Marxist. In 1972 Tsuyoshi Okudaira, part of the Japanese Red Army, deliberately killed himself with a grenade during the Lod Airport Massacre. The attack only superficially resembled a modern suicide bombing: its primary weapons were guns and thrown grenades, and Okudaira only blew himself up when in danger of capture.)

Related Topics:
1972 - Tsuyoshi Okudaira - Japanese Red Army - Lod Airport Massacre

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The September 11, 2001 attacks involved the hijacking of large passenger jets which were deliberately flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon, killing everyone aboard the planes and thousands more in and around the targeted buildings, thus making it one of the most destructive suicide attacks in history. The passenger jets selected were required to be fully fueled to fly cross-country, turning the planes themselves into the largest suicide bombs in history. The 'September 11' attacks also had a vast economic and political impact: for the cost of the lives of the 19 hijackers and financial expenditure of around US$100,000, al-Qaeda, the militant Islamist group responsible for the attacks, effected a trillion-dollar drop in global markets within one week, and triggered massive increases in military and security expenditure in response.

Related Topics:
September 11, 2001 attacks - World Trade Center - New York City - The Pentagon - Al-Qaeda

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In December 22 2001, Richard Reid attempted to destroy the American Airlines Flight 63 by the means of a bomb hidden in a shoe. He was arrested after his attempt was foiled when he was unable to light the bomb's fuse.

Related Topics:
December 22 - 2001 - Richard Reid - American Airlines Flight 63

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After the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, local insurgents carried out waves of suicide bombings. They attacked United States military targets, although many civilian targets (eg. Shiite mosques, international offices of the UN and the Red Cross, Iraqi men waiting to apply for jobs with the new army and police force) were also attacked. In the lead up to the Iraqi parliamentary election, 2005 on January 30, 2005, suicide attacks upon civilian and security personnel involved with the elections increased, and there were reports of the insurgents co-opting disabled people as involuntary suicide bombers http://www.smh.com.au/news/After-Saddam/Handicapped-boy-made-into-bomb/2005/02/01/1107228705132.html.

Related Topics:
U.S. - Iraq - 2003 - Local insurgents - United States military - Shiite - UN - Red Cross - Iraqi parliamentary election, 2005 - January 30 - 2005

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Suicide bombings have occurred in more than 25 countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Britain, Chechnya, China, Colombia, Croatia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, the Palestinian territories, Panama, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Yemen. (Suicide planes were also used in the United States). The July 2005 London bombings have been labelled suicide bombings by the media and government officials, but the police have avoided using this term, pending a final report on the incidents.

Related Topics:
Afghanistan - Algeria - Argentina - Britain - Chechnya - China - Colombia - Croatia - Egypt - India - Indonesia - Iraq - Israel - Kenya - Kuwait - Lebanon - Morocco - Pakistan - Palestinian territories - Panama - Philippines - Qatar - Russia - Saudi Arabia - Sri Lanka - Tanzania - Tunisia - Turkey - Uzbekistan - Yemen - United States - July 2005 London bombings

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