A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators intentionally end their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is often associated with terrorism or war. When the attackers are labelled as terrorists, the attacks are sometimes referred to as an act of suicide terrorism. Military use of suicide is not directly regulated by international law, but suicide attacks sometimes violate prohibitions against perfidy or targeting civilians. Suicide attacks have occurred in various contexts, ranging from military campaigns—such as the Japanese pilots during World War II —to more contemporary Islamic terrorist campaigns—including the September 11 attacks in 2001. Suicide attacks have been used by a wide range of political ideologies, from far-right (Japan and Germany in WWII) to far-left (such as the PKK and JRA).
Definition and terminology
Kamikaze
Kamikaze was a term initially used for Japanese suicide pilots in World War II, but is occasionally used in other contexts.
For example, the 1972 Lod Airport massacre in Israel by the Japanese Red Army (JRA) was labelled by some reports at the time a "Kamikaze" attack, but others have criticized the label, including the surviving attacker's interpreter. The Kamikaze were a unit of suicide bombers of the Empire of Japan in WWII, which had a very different ideology to the JRA. Researchers from Duke University described the JRA's motives as "rooted in anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism, and anti-capitalism". In more recent reports the 1972 JRA attack on Lod airport is described in modern terms such as "suicide attack" and "suicide mission", even when referring to the attacker who survived. All three militants intended to die, but one survived. He confessed and hoped to be quickly executed, but some attribute this to retrospective "survivor guilt".
Suicide bombing The term "" dates back to at least 1940 when a New York Times article mentioned the term in relation to German tactics."Germans Maintain Losing Airline Inside Panama Canal Defense Zone: Service in Ecuador Keeps 20 Pilots for Two Planes—Company Called Center of Fifth Column Activities New Route Planned Value in Case of War". Russell B. Porter, The New York Times, August 10, 1940, p. 6 Less than two years later, the New York Times referred to a Japanese attempt on an American carrier as a "suicide bombing"."NAVY IN PACIFIC FORAY BAGS 16 OF 18 BOMBERS; CARRIER ROUTS FOE: Ships' and Planes' Fire Foils Japanese Raid Near Gilbert Isles—A FIGHTER PILOT DOWNS 6—Fleet Force Escapes Damage, but Loses Two Aircraft – Suicide Dive Balked", The New York Times, March 4, 1942, Robert F. Whitney. In 1945, The Times of London referred to a plane as a "suicide-bomb".The Times (London), August 21, 1945, p. 6 Two years later, it referred to a new British pilot-less, radio-controlled rocket missile as originally designed "as a counter-measure to the Japanese 'suicide-bomber'."The Times (London), April 15, 1947, p. 2: "Designed originally as a counter-measure to the Japanese 'suicide-bomber,' it is now a potent weapon for defence or offence". (The quotes are in the original and suggest that the phrase was an existing one.)
Labelling attacks as suicide
The definition of "suicide" in this context is also a matter of debate.
Suicide terrorism itself has been defined by Ami Pedahzur, a professor at the University of Haifa, as "violent actions perpetrated by people who are aware that the odds they will return alive are close to zero". Other sources exclude from their work "suicidal" or high risk attacks, such as the Lod Airport massacre or a "reckless charge in battle". Despite the Lod Airport massacre being explicitly planned as a suicide attack, and modern mainstream Israeli and international media describing the event as a "suicide attack" or "suicide mission". Yoram Schweitzer, from the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (an Israeli think tank), focuses only on true "suicide attacks", where the odds of survival are not "close to zero" but required to be zero, because "the perpetrator's ensured death is a precondition for the success of his mission".
The narrower definition would also exclude the actions of groups such as those by the Hashishiyeen, by the Moro juramentado, and in Aceh during WWII (see below). Adam Lankford also excludes from the definition are "proxy bombings", which may have political goals and be designed to look like a suicide bombing. The difference is that the "proxy" is forced to carry a bomb under threat, or the proxy isn't fully aware that they are delivering a bomb that will kill them. The definition also generally excludes mass shootings in which the perpetrators commit suicide, as the shooter committing suicide is a separate act from shooting their victims.
Further distinction is how many of such shootings are driven by personal and psychological reasons, rather than political, social or religious motives, such as the Columbine High School massacre, the Virginia Tech shooting or Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in the United States. However, in 1999 the Columbine High School massacre was widely labelled as a suicide attack: both attackers shot themselves, but they planned the attack as a bombing. It is also a common trope that Muslim attackers are defined as terrorists while others are defined as mentally ill.
It may not always be clear to investigators which type of killing is which, since suicide attack campaigns sometimes use , as alleged in Iraq, or manipulate the vulnerable to become bombers. Adam Lankford, also argues that the motivation to kill and be killed connects some suicide attackers more closely to "suicidal rampage" murderers than is commonly thought.
for attackers and victims
All Abrahamic religions forbid suicide. Suicide and suicide attempts have been decriminalised in most of the western world, but remain criminalised in some countries, such as Afghanistan, Nigeria, Palestine, and others. Terminology relating to this sin or crime is used by Jews, Christians, and Muslims to condemn suicide attackers (see also above), different terminology is usually used to describe self sacrifice that they believe is justified, including actions their enemies label suicide attacks (see below).
Martyrdom of attackers and victims
Among Muslims, secular Arabs, and related cultures, the term martyr or shaheed has a broad meaning and can refer to leaders who have been assassinated or executed, civilian casualties of war, and combatants who did not intend to die.
Victims of suicide bombings and the bombers are both commonly referred to as martyrs, by opposing groups, or when referring to different attacks. Some Arabic speaking militant groups and their supporters call suicide attacks "martyrdom operations" (). The concept of martyrdom in Islam is broad including people who died in plagues and women who died in childbirth, as well as fallen combatants who did not intend to die. According to Israeli academic Assaf Moghadam, the term "martyrdom operation" has been used by Hamas, Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, and other Palestinian factions. The term "martyrdom operation" was also used in March 2003 by the Iraqi administration to refer to suicide attacks on invading troops during the 2003 Iraq war, and in particular their promise to retake the Baghdad airport.
Victims of suicide attacks are also referred to as martyrs by a wide variety of cultures. Benazir Bhutto, the leader of the Pakistan People's Party, is the most famous example of a progressive Muslim who is regarded as a martyr after being murdered in a suicide attack. Bhutto was assassinated in 2007 by a teenage Islamic extremist. After her death, many things in Pakistan, mostly related to education, were named or renamed in her honour, referring to her by the title "shaheed" (martyr).
When an ISIS-inspired suicide bomber blew himself up at Rafah crossing in 2017, he was described by locals and in Arabic package media as a suicide bomber ( or ), not a martyr.Five sources: The border guard who was killed attempting to stop him crossing into Egypt, a member of Hamas' Qassam Brigades, was described in official statements and Arabic language media as a martyr () and he became a martyr (, )., some international media, and the bomber's family. His family condemned him, describing ISIS member's action as completely criminal and anti-Palestine, and announced they would not be holding funeral services for the ISIS suicide-bomber. Gaza's clans referred to the bombing as suicide terrorism (). The bomber was also posthumously disowned by family, who announced they would be holding no funeral.
Biblical references
In Israel, Samson's words, in Judges 16:30 (, Biblical )., are quoted as a justification for acts of self sacrifice in battle. The same biblical quote is cited in both praise and criticism of this approach to warfare. Prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, this story was cited by two of the anti-British pre-state militant groups in reference to their premeditated plans. One leader claimed that two militants who blew themselves up had not committed suicide, as such, due to allegedly mitigating circumstances. Their modern critics claim the situation itself was largely self-inflicted.
Some within Israel view the Samson in a very negative light. People from Christian backgrounds, or people who live within majority-Christian communities, have carried out suicide attacks in Eastern Europe, Lebanon, the United States, New Zealand, and elsewhere (see below). They have usually not used religious language to explain or justify their actions. Most have been members or supporters of secular movements, or they have perpetrated isolated attacks and they did not give lengthy reasons as to why they perpetrated the attacks. However, in 1959 in Houston, Texas, Paul Harold Orgeron reportedly mentioned "the will of God" before detonating a suitcase bomb that killed himself and 5 other people at Poe Elementary School.
Non-Abrahamic religions Kuyili – who killed herself in a suicide attack in 1780, see below – is revered as Theepaanchi Amman, meaning "the goddess who jumped into fire", in Muthupatti village near Sivagangai, Tamil Nadu, based on local oral traditions.
Opferanschlag (sacrifice bombing) In German-speaking areas the term "sacrifice bombing" () was proposed in 2012 by German scholar . This is different from the German word used by Nazi Germany to refer to self sacrifice attacks.
Labelling attacks as terrorism
Suicide attacks include both "suicide terrorism" and attacks targeting combatants. "Terrorism" is often defined as any action "intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants" for the purpose of intimidation.Definition given by Kofi Annan, March 2005 in the UN General Assembly, while Secretary General of the UN: This definition is often not used consistently; even those claiming to define terrorism this way sometimes describe attacks on their own military as "terrorism", while attacks on civilians by allied state actors are almost never called terrorism.
An alternative definition provided by Jason Burke, a journalist who has lived among Islamic militants, suggests that most define terrorism as "the use or threat of serious violence" to advance some kind of "cause", stressing that terrorism is a tactic. This definition is often referred to by the euphemism "political violence".
Academic Fred Halliday has written that assigning the descriptor of "terrorist" or "terrorism" to the actions of a group is a tactic used by states to deny "legitimacy" and "rights to protest and rebel".F. Halliday. (2002). Two Hours that Shook the World: September 11, 2001 – Causes and Consequences, Saqi; , pp. 70–71 Israeli diplomacy has been very influential in defining terrorism as a concept.