"Acting as Allah's soldier for one night in a battlefield is superior to saying prayers at home for 1000 years"

  Islam's first suicide terrorists were the Hashishin, members of an order established by Hassan Sabah who followed the Nizari Ismaeli branch of Shiite Islam. Hashishin from which is derived the English assassin, comes from an Arabic word for grass or weed. Hashishin, thus means "users of hashish."

  Sabah, the "Old Man of the Mountain," opposed the murder of Ismael and five other Shiah imams by the Arab Turkic Seljuq rulers of Persia. Sabah chose the secluded mountain top fortress of Alamut in 1090 as his base for a revolt. Ismaeli believed that suicide for a cause will take them would ensure immediate entrance to Paradise.

  Recruitment of Hashishin reportedly involved the use of hashish. After becoming sufficiently intoxicated, recruits were serenaded by beautiful women in a paradisal garden where they given fruit to eat. Through some trickery they were shown a man's head displayed on a plate on the ground. Later, the “beheaded” man would join them. Upon recovering from the drug's effects they were told they had been to paradise and witnessed the resurrection of the dead. The interlude in the garden was described as a foretaste of the reward awaiting them in Paradise should they die during a mission.

   “So loyal were his followers”, writes the 13th century bishop of Acre, James of Vitry, that they would, on command, perform the ‘death-leap’ from the castle walls and shatter their skulls below.”

  The Hashishins first victims were prominent Arab figures in mosques and other public places. An assassin might spend years in close quarters with a potential victim, such as a Seljuk ruler whose trust he had slowly gained. Only after receiving an order from Sabah would he strike, killing with a knife.

  Later the Nizari Ismaelis expanded into Syria, where they preyed on crusaders. Their most celebrated victim was Conrad of Montferrat, king of Jerusalem, cut down in 1192 by assassins disguised as Christian monks. Attacks like this struck terror into the hearts of their foes. Their practices were no worse than those of their enemies. Killing and destruction in pursuit of power was the norm.

  The reign of the Hashishin came to an abrupt end in 1256 when the Mongols, sweeping through Persia with scorched-earth tactics, erased Alamut for good.

The Modern Threat

  In the modern context, suicide terrorism is the readiness to sacrifice one's life in the process of destroying or attempting to destroy a target to advance a political goal. The aim of the psychologically and physically war-trained terrorist is to die while destroying the enemy target. To date, the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon are the most spectacular and successful example

  In the 1980s suicide terrorism was witnessed in Lebanon, Kuwait and Sri Lanka. In the 1990s it had spread to Israel, India, Panama, Algeria, Pakistan, Argentina, Croatia, Turkey, Tanzania and Kenya. With enhanced migration of terrorist groups from conflict-ridden countries, the formation of extensive international terrorist infrastructures and the increased reach of terrorist groups in the post Cold War period, suicide terrorism is becoming more common and widespread.

  There are several religious and secular terrorist groups that are capable of using suicide terrorism as a tactic against their governments and/or foreign governments. Among them are: the Islam Resistance Movement (HAMAS), Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hizbullah (based primarily in Lebanon), Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) and Jaamiyat Islamiya (Islamic Group - IG) in Egypt, the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) of Algeria, Barbar Khalsa International (BKI) of India; the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of Sri Lanka, the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) of Turkey, and Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda. No doubt, there are others and new organizations regularly make their presence known.

Smart Bombs

   The suicide bomber is the most difficult weapon to defend because it can be guided so precisely and detonated at a time and place where it will cause the maximum number of casualties and greatest damage, survivors are often hideously disfigured. Even the least deadly of such attacks can strike a devastating blow to public morale. Suicide attacks can be highly lethal even to those some distance from the attack, they attract wide media coverage

  A suicide bomber is difficult to counter. Concrete barriers might deter truck bombers. Heightened airport security can challenge hijackers. But stopping human bombs is an incredibly difficult business, says Christopher Langton an analyst of terrorist threats at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

  It's an inexpensive weapon, easily concealed, carrying has the most accurate guidance system available to mankind. A suicide bomber can make decisions that an unmanned weapon cannot. He can pretend to be a pregnant woman or pause at the target as more potential victims congregate, or choose a better target at the very last minute - the ultimate smart-bomb.

  Furthermore, the success of a suicide terrorist operation entails the death of the terrorist. Unlike a conventional soldier, he is not worried about capture, interrogation (possible torture), trial, imprisonment and the accompanying humiliation - he expects that he will die in the act. Planning and execution are simplified as there is no need to provide an escape route to prevent the capture of operatives who might reveal information about the group or person behind them. Even if stopped by security personnel the bomber, by killing them, will still have had a measure of success.

  The group does not have to concern itself with developing an escape plan, often the most difficult phase of an operation. Therefore, a suicide terrorist can enter a high security zone and accomplish his mission without worrying about escape or evasion. The certain death of the attacker enables the group to undertake high quality operations while protecting the organization and its cadres. As every prisoner has a point of breaking under psychological or physical pressure, the certain death of the attacker or attackers prevent the captor extracting information.

  The willingness of to die is often given as one reason for Islam's rapid military success in its first one hundred years, when the Muslim faith spread from Mecca to a Spain through India up to Indonesia. One Muslim commander is reported to have replied to queries about a possible peace from a European manner, "You will lose. As you worship life, so we worship death."

  This idea, violent death in the service of faith and as visa to Paradise, is ingrained into many Muslims from an early age. It is a world view that calls for its followers to fight for the spread of the Muslim faith rather than emphasizing on prayer as other theologies do. "Oh ye who believe! fight those of the unbelievers and let them find in you harshness." (Repentance: IX: 123)

  The Shaheed is a weapon with a message. And that message has been: No one is safe, anywhere. The belt-bomber on the bus, the train, the restaurant, in places like shopping malls or even the corner grocery store, all where attendance is optional, are becoming the target of choice. People in some countries have become afraid to go out and buy food, or do much of anything else.

  It has been suggested that the conventional way of approaching the subject of human bombs is wrong. Too much attention is focused on the psychology of individual belt-bombers when it would be more useful to study them as a major new style of weaponry - a category alongside missiles, grenades and land mines.

  Once confined to the Middle East, suicide bombings are becoming a serious problem worldwide. Chechen terrorists have repeatedly struck inside Russia; recently a bomb went off in a crowded Moscow subway car. Hizbullah has conducted operations in Argentina. All of the groups employing suicide terror have infrastructures in Europe and North America. Members of these groups are known to travel to the West, and key activists live either in Europe or in North America distributing propaganda, raising funds, and in some instances procuring weapons and shipping them to the various theaters of conflict.

  Terror attacks are becoming increasingly more deadly. The trend toward higher-casualty attacks reflects, in part, the changing motivation behind the terrorist attacks. Today’s terrorist is much more likely to be driven by extremist religious beliefs than merely by a wish to gain a political goal; the Islamist extremist Al Qaeda network is a prime example of this. The aim of such groups is to win converts among potential supporters, to intimidate potential enemies, and to punish actual enemies.

  A higher percentage of women have featured in off-the-battlefield suicide operations, which requires infiltration, invisibility and deception. A woman staged the suicide operation that killed Rajiv Gandhi in India. Most suicide operations in Turkey are by women. For many reasons, women are the preferred choice of secular groups when it comes to infiltration and strike missions. First, women are less suspicious. Second, in the conservative societies of the Middle East and South Asia, there is a hesitation to body search a woman. Third, women can wear a suicide device beneath her clothes and appear pregnant.

  The advent of religiously-motivated terrorism has been accompanied by a rise in suicide attacks. This is particularly true of extremist Islamist terrorism, where the image of the Shaheed carries great power and prestige. Successful terror tactics normally spread when the tools are cheap and not complicated, says David Rapoport, editor of the Journal on Terrorism and Violence. The most devastating of the recent attacks around the world have been suicide attacks, and all were carried out by groups motivated by extremist Islamic ideologies. These attacks included:

  Al-Ghoul has covered the motivation and psychology of suicide bombers elsewhere; a few words here will suffice"

  Some of suicide groups are motivated by religion, religious/ethnic nationalism, or ethnic nationalism. Al Qaeda's religious philosophy transcends territorial borders. HAMAS, the PIJ and Hizbullah are primarily religious groups, but they are also driven by ethno-nationalism. BKI is the only non-Islamic religious group. While the LTTE and the PKK are driven by ethno-nationalism, the PKK is also infused with Marxist-Leninist ideology. As such, the motivation of HAMAS, the PIJ and Hizbullah suicide bombers is primarily Islam. The motivation of the LTTE and the PKK suicide bombers is mainly Tamil and Kurdish nationalism respectively.

  Dependent on the political environment and potential and actual donors, a new ideological orientation can be built into a group. With the end of the Cold War, most groups are abandoning Marxist, Leninist and Maoist ideologies and embracing ethno-nationalist and/or religious ideologies.

  Training involves the making of a will, the shooting of a video where the prospective shaheed vows that he will not return; he is off on a sacred mission for his people and that he should be remembered as a martyr and example for others to follow. All this makes it difficult to back alive out. He has to kill himself or lose face.

  As security defenses improve against hijackings, car bombs and other terror tactics, terrorists have moved over to suicide bombing which is extremely difficult for law enforcement agencies to deal with. Experts are now saying it's like a missile that's been launched. Once it's launched, it's nearly impossible to stop.

  There are two types of suicide operations: battlefield and off the battlefield. In battlefield operations, suicide bombers are integrated into the attacking groups. Most off-the-battlefield operations have involved single suicide bombers. In the case of the LTTE and HAMAS, there have been multiple suicide bombers. The targets have been static and mobile, against infrastructure and humans. Suicide bombers have destroyed military, political, economic and cultural infrastructure. They have committed terrorist attacks by killing civilians in buses, crowded places and in buildings. Suicide bombers have also assassinated political and military VIPs.

  Suicide bombings are not, as most people believe, the act of an individual acting alone. Most often they are highly organized affairs. Terrorist organizations usually operate in small cells with different functions. The cells are linked by intermediaries and have little or no contact with each other, to prevent infiltration by counter-terrorist forces.

  First of all, there is a Recruiter that finds and selects suitable candidates for journey to "paradise".

  In the nineties, when religiously motivated organizations such as HAMAS first employed suicide bombers, the primary place to find potential recruits was a mosque. Recruiters were conected to the mosque in one way or another. Nowadays, with secular terrorist organizations, such as FATAH, also employing suicide bombers, recruitment can take place anywhere, from hospitals or restaurants to schools and even kindergartens - the youngest suicide bomber arrested by Israeli security services is just 13 years old, the youngest who blew up was 16. In addition, palestinian militants often use small children to ferry weapons and explosives, for example in Jenin a 6 year old boy stopped by IDF soldiers had several grenades, AK magazines and other ammunition in his backpack.

  Next there is an Agent, who has to select the target collect intelligence. Again, contrary to popular opinion, terrorist's choice of their objective is far from random. The Agent is usually a Palestinian Arab with a work permit in Israel, or less often an Israeli Arab. The Agent often works or had worked in the target location - such as a restaurant, a hotel or a banquet hall.

  The Engineer prepares the bomb and its separate components.

  The Mule,who brings the terrorist closer to his target is sometimes an Israeli Arab, more often a Palestinian with work permit. Usually he is not a member of a terrorist organization, but an experienced car-thief, well familiar with the Israeli society. A car with an Israeli number makes all movements in the country much easier. Such thief also knows all the roads very well and is experienced in escaping from the police.

  The Planner, or controller, who commands the operation is the leader of the group, an active member of a terrorist organization (Hamas, Fatah etc.) who is the "field commander." Quite often, there is an additional person responsible for financing the operation.

  This is an idealized description of organizational structure. Often a single person performs several tasks, for example, recruitment and command, or, vice versa several terrorists work on the same task. The bomb is usually constructed by two or three people - the head "engineer" and his assistants.

  The bomber is trained and accompanied on his mission by members of the controller cell. The success of the mission depends on a number of elements: secrecy, thorough reconnaissance, rehearsals and accompanying by controllers.

  Secrecy enables the preservation of the element of surprise, critical for the success of most operations.

  Reconnaissance enables the group to plan, often by building a scale model of the target. Thorough rehearsals allow the bomber to gain stealth and speed. There are other elements, such as getting the bomber to the target zone and then to the target itself. The bomber is usually supported by an operational cell, responsible for providing accommodation, transport food, clothing and security to the bomber until he/she reaches the target. Resident agents help generate intelligence for the operation, from target reconnaissance to surveillance. The cell members confirm the intelligence. The bomber will often conduct a final reconnaissance just prior to the attack, the bomber.

  As a comprehensive knowledge of the target is essential for the success of a suicide operation, terrorist groups depend on building solid agent-handling networks. Some security and intelligence agencies have succeeded in penetrating the agent-handling network of various terrorist groups. In some cases, the only form of defense is to penetrate the terrorist group itself. This is because bombers penetrate governments or societies as sleepers and gradually gain acceptance as a trusted member - as did the Hashishin.

  In such cases, even the presence of a few hundred bodyguards or guards assigned to protect sensitive installations cannot serve as a counter measure. As such, penetration of the terrorist group is the first line of defense. The last line of defense is hardening the vulnerable and likely targets.

  There are a number of variations on the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used by shehadeen. The two most common are the the human-borne, or bodysuit, IED, and the cart-bomb. the motorcycle-borne. By far, the most popular is the suicide bodysuit or bomb-belt.

  The suicide body suit has evolved, becoming smaller, as the need for concealment has become more important. Initially, the device was a square block of explosives worn in the chest and the belly area. Gradually, the device evolved into a heart shaped block of explosives placed just above the navel. As body searchers for suicide devices are usually conducted around the abdomen, a group is also developing breast bombs.

  Most suicide body suits have no/little electronics, making it difficult for security agencies to develop counter-technologies to detect these devices. A suicide body suit can be made from commercial items. With the exception of the malleable plastic explosives and detonator, all the other components can be purchased from a tailor shop (stretch denim) and an auto shop (steel ball bearings, wires, batteries and switches). Furthermore, when a device is sophisticated it becomes difficult to operate, as well as fixing it when it fails to function. Suicide devices will thus remain simple.

  Suicide-capable groups differ in form, size, orientation, goal and support. A review of the key characteristics of the 10 suicide-capable groups reveals that any group can acquire suicide bomb technology and engage in suicide terrorism:

· Al Qaeda is a mix of several associate groups that are internationally dispersed. From Afghanistan, Bin Laden provides the overall direction to the organization. Al Qaeda efforts are primarily directed against the USA ('Great Satan') and Israel ('Little Satan'), and their allies. More recently, Al Qaeda has directed its efforts against India on the issue of Kashmir, a territory disputed between India and Pakistan. The USA has directed its resources to disrupting Al Qaeda support operations in the USA, especially after the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

· The Indian counter insurgency specialist, K P S Gill, broke the backbone of the Sikh insurgents in Punjab, northern India. BKI is fighting for an independent 'Khalistan' in the predominantly Sikh state of Punjab. It has a small presence in the target country - India - but enjoys a significant presence in the diaspora - UK and Canada. In January 2000, when BKI was planning to conduct its second suicide operation, the Indian security forces apprehended the bomber.

· The GIA has staged only one suicide operation as part of its fight to establish an Islamic state in Algeria.

· HAMAS and PIJ, operating in Gaza and West Bank, have vowed to destroy the 'Zionist state of Israel'. Currently, HAMAS and PIJ are controlled by the Palestinian Authority under its President, Yasser Arafat. Shin Bet (the Israeli security agency) and the Mossad (the Israeli external intelligence agency) have regulated the efficacy of these two groups by removing their key operatives and military leaders.

· The two Egyptian groups - IG and EIJ - are fighting to establish an Islamic state in Egypt. The leader of the EIJ, Dr Ayman Al-Thawaheri, lives in Afghanistan and works closely with Bin Laden.

· Until the capture of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK fought for an independent Kurdistan in southeastern Turkey. Today, the PKK is demanding autonomy and equal cultural rights.

· The LTTE is fighting for an independent Tamil state in northeastern Sri Lanka. As the quality of targets chosen by the LTTE is high, it has a sophisticated training program that lasts for about a year. As well as training the bomber, the LTTE research unit tests the effects of explosives on dogs and goats to ensure that the attack is successful. The list of Sri Lankan VIPs killed in suicide attacks includes one president, one presidential candidate, the State Minister of Defense, the Navy Chief and various area commanders. No country has lost so many leaders in such a short period of time as Sri Lanka has to the LTTE suicide bombers.

  Suicide terrorism will likely spread with time. As many second-generation operations have been conducted away from the theater of war, it is likely that suicide terrorism will affect Western Europe and North America in the future.

  Terrorist groups are increasingly providing intensive training to their bombers, with the intention of increasing their endurance. For instance, the suicide bomber who destroyed the US embassy in Nairobi in 1998 had been resident in Kenya for four years. He had married in Kenya and lived in the capital before carrying out the suicide operation. Similarly, the suicide bomber who assassinated President Premadasa of Sri Lanka had lived in the capital, Colombo, for three years before carrying out the attack.

  Terrorist groups are setting a dangerous trend of using suicide bombers to destroy targets far away from their theaters of war. Many groups are likely to use suicide bombers to infiltrate target countries and conduct suicide attacks against Western VIPs and critical infrastructure in the foreseeable future.