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96-403: They were specially selected and trained LTTE cadres whose missions included direct action, irregular warfare, and mounting suicide attacks primarily against military targets. Economic and political targets were also targeted at times, among them Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa and former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi . Civilians were also killed during certain attacks such as

192-623: A May Day parade. On 11 November 1993, a Black Tiger team stormed into the Pooneryn military base in the early hours of the morning and paved the way for LTTE teams to overrun the camp and its installations. The Black Tiger team was led by Captain Sengannan who hailed from Sattur . On 10 August 1994, the first female Sea Black Tiger, Captain Angayarkanni , single handedly destroyed a Sri Lankan Navy Surveillance Command Centre Ship off

288-459: A 300-year period before being annihilated by Mongol invaders. Hashishiyeen were known for their targeting of the powerful, their use of the dagger as a weapon (rather than something safer for the assassin such as a crossbow), and for making no attempt to escape after completing their killing. Arnold von Winkelried became a hero in the Swiss struggle for independence when he sacrificed himself at

384-516: A Black Tiger. Those who were the only living child in their family were automatically disqualified from joining. Once a soldier was selected for the elite unit, their identity was highly secured and their family members were never informed of their status. When it was time for training, the selected cadres were taken to secret Black Tiger bases where they underwent intense training in jungle warfare and espionage. They then conducted their regular duties until they were required to launch an attack. Before

480-573: A French ship with a suicide attack during the Suez Crisis in 1956. However, none of the French ships named by the sources were harmed during the crisis. On 21 March 1968, in response to persistent Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) raids against Israeli civilian targets, Israel attacked the town of Karameh , Jordan, the site of a major PLO camp. The goal of the invasion was to destroy Karameh camp and capture Yasser Arafat in reprisal for

576-486: A Japanese kamikaze attempt on an American carrier as a "suicide bombing". In 1945, The Times of London referred to a kamikaze plane as a "suicide-bomb" and 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'". Suicide attacks include both suicide terrorism and attacks targeting combatants. Terrorism

672-642: A UNP election rally at Ja-Ela , Colombo. In 1994, he was appointed Chief of Staff of Army and served till his resignation on 2 June 1995. In April 2000, the Black Tigers stormed into the Iyakkachchi military base in the early hours of the morning in a multi-pronged assault and overran the well-fortified camp after several hours of intense fighting. The commandos penetrated the central base, destroying several artillery pieces, tanks, armored vehicles and ammunition dumps. The capture of Iyakachchi proved to be

768-518: A bomb in a trash can." "Genocide bombing" was coined in 2002 by Irwin Cotler , a member of the Canadian parliament, in an effort to focus attention on the alleged intention of genocide by militant Palestinians in their calls to " wipe Israel off the map ". In German-speaking areas the term "sacrifice bombing" (Ger. Opferanschlag ) was proposed in 2012 by German scholar Arata Takeda. The term

864-474: A convoy of 15 military buses, killing over 100 sailors. The attack was in retaliation to the Chencholai bombing . On 18 October 2006, a 15-member Sea Black Tiger team raided Galle Harbour in five vessels and attacked four Sri Lankan naval vessels and installations. At least three explosive-laden attack vessels attacked naval crafts, including a tsunami damaged sub chaser, SLNS Parakramabahu , and destroyed

960-485: A fast attack craft and two water jet inshore patrol vessels anchored in the port base. On 22 October 2007, an elite unit of 21 Black Tigers raided the country's second largest airbase in the heart of the Sinhala cultural capital, Anuradhapura . The government suffered an estimate of $ 40 million USD worth of damages to military aircraft. On 6 April 2008, Minister of Highways & Road Development Jeyaraj Fernandopulle

1056-492: A large scale at the end of World War II . About 3000 attacks were made and about 50 ships were sunk. 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 asymmetric war used by the Empire of Japan against United States Navy and Royal Navy aircraft carriers , although

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1152-676: A major tactical move, since located at Iyakachchi were the only freshwater wells that supplied Elephant Pass and Paranthan. On 7 June 2000, a Black Tiger assassinated Minister of Industries Development C. V. Gunaratne by embracing the cabinet minister as he was collecting donations for the army in his constituency in Colombo. On 24 July 2001, an elite unit of 14 Black Tigers attacked Bandaranaike International Airport , causing an estimated of US$ 350 million worth of damage to military and civilian aircraft. Tourism in Sri Lanka sharply dropped after

1248-471: A modified version of the W54 nuclear bomb. The report stated that he and other soldiers training for the program knew this was a suicide mission because either it would be unrealistic to outrun the timer on the bomb, or that soldiers would be obligated to secure the site before the timer went off. However, in theory the timer could be set long enough to give the team a chance to escape. Bently claimed "We all knew it

1344-623: A total of 4,814 suicide attacks were carried out in over 40 countries, resulting in over 45,000 deaths. The global frequency of these attacks increased from an average of three per year in the 1980s to roughly one per month in the 1990s, almost one per week from 2001 to 2003, and roughly one per day from 2003 to 2015. In 2019, there were 149 suicide bombings in 24 countries, carried out by 236 individuals. These attacks resulted in 1,850 deaths and 3,660 injuries. Suicide attacks distinguish themselves from other terror attacks due to their heightened lethality and destructiveness. Perpetrators benefit from

1440-714: Is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are often associated with terrorism or military conflicts and are considered a form of murder–suicide . Suicide attacks involving explosives are commonly referred to as suicide bombings . In the context of terrorism, they are also commonly referred to as suicide terrorism . While generally not inherently regulated under international law , suicide attacks in their execution often violate international laws of war, such as prohibitions against perfidy and targeting civilians . Suicide attacks have occurred in various contexts, ranging from military campaigns—such as

1536-431: Is intended to shift the focus away from the suicide of the perpetrators and towards their use as weapons by their commanders. The first-century AD Jewish Sicarii sect are thought to have carried out suicidal attacks against Hellenized Jews they considered immoral collaborators. The Hashishiyeen ( Assassins ) sect of Ismaili Shi'a Muslims assassinated two caliphs, as well as many viziers, sultans and Crusader leaders over

1632-439: Is little in common between people who blow themselves up intending to kill as many people as possible in the process and actual suicide victims. Fox News producer Dennis Murray argued that a suicidal act should be reserved for a person who does something to kill themselves only. CNN producer Christa Robinson argued that the term "homicide bomber" was not specific enough, stating that "A homicide bomber could refer to someone planting

1728-447: Is often defined any action "intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants" for the purpose of intimidation. 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. Academic Fred Halliday has written that assigning

1824-717: The Aceh Sultanate performed suicide attacks known as Parang-sabil against Dutch invaders during the Aceh War . It was considered as part of personal jihad in the Islamic religion of the Acehnese. The Dutch called it Atjèh-moord , (literally "Aceh-murder"). The Acehnese work of literature, the Hikayat Perang Sabil provided the background and reasoning for the "Aceh-mord"—Acehnese suicide attacks upon

1920-708: The Battle for Berlin the Luftwaffe flew "Self-sacrifice missions" ( Selbstopfereinsätze ) against Soviet bridges over the River Oder . These 'total missions' were flown by pilots of the Leonidas Squadron . From 17 to 20 April 1945, using any available aircraft, the Luftwaffe claimed the squadron had destroyed 17 bridges. However, military historian Antony Beevor believes this claim was exaggerated and only

2016-491: The Battle of Sempach in 1386. The earliest known non-military suicide attack occurred in Murchison , New Zealand, on 14 July 1905. When a long-standing dispute between two farmers resulted in a court case, the defendant (Joseph Sewell) arrived with sticks of gelignite strapped to his body. When during the court proceedings Sewell excitedly shouted "I'll blow the devil to hell, and I have enough dynamite to do just that", he

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2112-639: The Colombo Central Bank bombing that killed 100 civilians and injured 1400 others. On 4 July 1996, a Black Tiger assassinated Major General Ananda Hamangoda at Stanley Road in Jaffna Town. Hamangoda was the brigade commander of the 51-2 brigade based in Jaffna and was providing security for Housing and Construction Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva during his visit to Jaffna when the explosion occurred. De Silva escaped with minor injuries and

2208-667: The Columbine High School massacre , the Virginia Tech shooting or Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in the U.S.) are driven by personal and psychological reasons, rather than political, social or religious motives. It may not always be clear to investigators which type of killing is which—suicide attack campaigns sometimes use proxy bombers (as alleged in Iraq) or manipulate the vulnerable to become bombers. At least one researcher ( Adam Lankford ) argues that

2304-608: The January 28 Incident , a Dare to Die squad struck against the Japanese. Suicide bombing was also used against the Japanese. A "dare to die corps" was effectively used against Japanese units at the Battle of Taierzhuang . They used swords and wore suicide vests made out of grenades. A Chinese soldier detonated a grenade vest and killed 20 Japanese soldiers at Sihang Warehouse . Chinese troops strapped explosives such as grenade packs or dynamite to their bodies and threw themselves under Japanese tanks to blow them up. This tactic

2400-482: The Lod Airport massacre or "reckless charge in battle", focusing 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". Also excluded from the definition are " proxy bombings ", which may have political goals and be designed to look like a suicide bombing, but in which

2496-755: The National Defence College in New Delhi . In 1991, he was promoted to the rank of rear admiral and held the post of the Chief of Staff of the navy, shortly he was promoted to the rank of vice admiral on appointment to the office of the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy on 1 November 1991. After becoming navy commander he intensified naval operations against the LTTE , effectively denying

2592-463: The Palestinian territories , Pakistan , and Sri Lanka . By mid-2015, about three-quarters of all suicide attacks occurred in just three countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq. William Hutchinson (W. Hutchinson) describes suicide attacks as a weapon of psychological warfare aimed at instilling fear in the target population, undermining areas where the public feels secure, and eroding

2688-599: The Royal Ceylon Navy on 17 December 1957 as a cadet officer . After completing five months of basic training, he proceeded for officer training at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth , United Kingdom . After one year of training, he was promoted to Midshipman on 1 May 1959. On completion of his training at Dartmouth in July 1960, he was commissioned as an Acting Sub Lieutenant and returned to Ceylon. He

2784-576: The Siege of Fort Zeelandia . On 5 February 1831, during the Belgian Revolution , a gale blew a Dutch gunboat under the command of Jan van Speyk into the quay of the port of Antwerp . As the ship was stormed by Belgians, van Speyk refused to surrender, instead igniting the ship's gunpowder with either his gun or cigar, blowing up the ship. The explosion killed 28 out of the 31 crewmen and an unknown number of Belgians. Muslim Acehnese from

2880-604: The armoured flight deck of the Royal Navy carriers diminished Kamikaze effectiveness. Along with fitting existing aircraft with bombs, the Japanese also developed the Ohka , a purpose-built suicide aircraft, air-launched from a carrying bomber and propelled to the target at high speed using rocket engines. The Japanese Navy also used piloted torpedoes called kaiten ("Heaven shaker") on suicide missions. Although sometimes called midget submarines , these were modified versions of

2976-712: The bombing of the Central Bank and the Temple of the Tooth attack . Since their formation in 1987 until the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in 2009, more than 330 Black Tigers made suicide attacks on air, land, and sea, mostly in Sri Lanka. Experts estimated that the Black Tigers had carried out the most of suicide attacks reported around the world by the time the Sri Lankan civil war ended in 2009. The first Black Tiger

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3072-547: The first recorded female suicide bomber in 1985. During the Sri Lankan Civil War , the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) adopted suicide bombing as a tactic, using bomb belts and female bombers. The LTTE carried out their first suicide attack in July 1987, and their Black Tiger unit committed 83 suicide attacks from 1987 to 2009, killing 981 people including former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and

3168-441: The "fabric of trust that holds societies together." This weapon is further used to demonstrate the lengths to which perpetrators will go to achieve their goals. Motivations for suicide attackers vary: kamikaze pilots acted under military orders, while other attacks have been driven by religious or nationalist purposes. According to analyst Robert Pape , prior to 2003, most attacks targeted occupying forces. From 2000 to 2004,

3264-418: The "proxy" is forced to carry a bomb under threat (such as having their children killed), or where 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 (such as

3360-611: The 16 November 1992 at 8.35 a.m, in front of the Galle Face Green . Killed in the bombing was Lieutenant (posthumously lieutenant-commander ) Sandun Gunasekera, his flag lieutenant and his driver. He was on his way to naval headquarters at Flagstaff Street in the Galle Buck from his official residence "Navy House" at Longden Place, Colombo after he returned from India after discussing Indo-Sri Lankan naval cooperation. Admiral Fernando's assassination took place soon after

3456-774: The 1980s to 81 suicide attacks in 2001 and 460 in 2005. By 2005, the tactic had spread to dozens of countries. Suicide bombing became a popular tactic among Palestinian terrorist organizations such as Hamas , Islamic Jihad , the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade , and occasionally by the PFLP . The first suicide bombing in Israel was by Hamas in 1994. Attacks peaked from 2001 to 2003 with over 40 bombings and over 200 killed in 2002. Bombers affiliated with these groups often use so-called " suicide belts ", explosive devices (often including shrapnel ) designed to be strapped to

3552-488: The Acehnese rebelled again. Moro Muslims who performed suicide attacks were called mag-sabil , and the suicide attacks were known as Parang-sabil . The Spanish called them juramentados . The idea of the juramentado was considered part of jihad in the Moros' Islamic religion. During an attack, a juramentado would throw himself at his targets and kill them with bladed weapons such as barongs and kris until he himself

3648-461: The Communists formed "Dare to Die Corps" to fight for their organizations, with their lives. During the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre , protesting students also formed "Dare to Die Corps", to risk their lives defending the protest leaders. Kamikaze , a ritual act of self-sacrifice carried out by Japanese pilots of explosive-laden aircraft against Allied warships, occurred on

3744-624: The Dutch. The Indonesian translations of the Dutch terms are Aceh bodoh (Aceh pungo) or Aceh gila (Aceh mord). Atjèh-moord was also used against the Japanese by the Acehnese during the Japanese occupation of Aceh . The Acehnese Ulama (Islamic Scholars) fought against both the Dutch and the Japanese, revolting against the Dutch in February 1942 and against Japan in November 1942. The revolt

3840-755: The Great Depression). Nine days after the attack, U.S. President George W. Bush called for a "War on Terror" and shortly thereafter launched the War in Afghanistan to find and capture Osama bin Laden , the head of the al-Qaeda organization that mounted the 9/11 attacks. Clancy Fernando Admiral Wannakuwatta Waduge Erwin Clancy Fernando VSV , USP , MNI (In Sinhalese : ක්ලැන්සි ෆර්නැන්ඩෝ; 10 October 1938 – 16 November 1992)

3936-762: The Indian Research and Analysis Wing after the Sri Lankan Army's Operation Liberation had been halted under pressure from the Government of India and the subsequent signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord During the earlier phase of the Tamil Tigers' military campaign, it did not possess the heavy conventional weapons required to attack large camps. To mount such an attack, costly weapons such as artillery pieces, missiles, and fighter-bombers would have been needed – weapons that

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4032-520: The Japanese kamikaze pilots during World War II (1944–1945)—to more contemporary Islamic terrorist campaigns—including the September 11 attacks in 2001. Initially, these attacks primarily targeted military, police, and public officials. This approach continued with groups like al-Qaeda , which combined mass civilian targets with political leadership. While only a few suicide attacks occurred between 1945 and 1980, between 1981 and September 2015,

4128-474: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which thrust the United States into World War II ". They involved the hijacking of four large passenger jet airliners . Unlike earlier airline hijackings, the primary focus was the planes, not the passengers because their long transcontinental flight plans meant they carried more fuel, allowing a bigger explosion on impact. Two planes were deliberately flown into

4224-736: The Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War . In the Xinhai Revolution, many Chinese revolutionaries became martyrs in battle. "Dare to Die" student corps were founded for student revolutionaries wanting to fight against Qing dynasty rule. Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing promoted the Dare to Die corps. Huang said, "We must die, so let us die bravely." Suicide squads were formed by Chinese students going into battle, knowing that they would be killed fighting against overwhelming odds. The 72 Martyrs of Huanghuagang died in

4320-594: The Kotelawela Defence Academy before he was killed. On 29 May 1999, a Black Tiger wearing a suicide vest assassinated the leader of the military wing of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front P. Ganeshmoorthy by riding a bicycle into his garage and jumping on him as he was selling a motorcycle to a paramilitary operative. On 18 December 1999, a Black Tiger wearing a suicide vest assassinated retired Major General Lakshman Algama at

4416-456: The LTTE could not afford to purchase. As a result, they decided to resort to asymmetric warfare , creating a special wing to make up for their inadequate weaponry. Consequently, it is not the act itself – killing by suicide – that was the Black Tigers' original or even main aim, but rather the military impact and its strategic consequences. After 18 May 2009, following

4512-642: The Malabar coast of southwestern India, and in Atjeh (Acheh) in Northern Sumatra as well. The first known suicide bomber was a Russian man named Ignaty Grinevitsky . The invention of dynamite in the 1860s presented revolutionary and terrorist groups in Europe with a weapon nearly 20 times more powerful than gunpowder. However, using dynamite required overcoming the technical challenges of detonating it at

4608-855: The Qing dynasty imperial system. Other Dare to Die student corps in the Xinhai revolution were led by students who later became major military leaders in Republic of China, like Chiang Kai-shek , and Huang Shaoxiong with the Muslim Bai Chongxi against Qing dynasty forces. "Dare to Die" troops were used by warlords. The Kuomintang used one to put down an insurrection in Canton. Many women joined them in addition to men to achieve martyrdom against China's opponents. They were known as 烈士 "Lit-she" (Martyrs) after accomplishing their mission. During

4704-652: The Sri Lankan Armed Forces in Vanni, situated in Vavuniyaa town. According to the casualty figures released by the Sri Lankan military sources, 9 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers, 2 Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) personnel and 1 policemen were killed and 26 wounded. The Black Tigers also destroyed the communication facility with its tower, engineering facility, and the anti-aircraft weapon and ammunition stores. On 6 October 2008, retired Major General Janaka Perera

4800-718: The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City , destroying both 110-story skyscrapers within less than two hours. A third plane was flown into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia , causing severe damage to the west side of the building. These attacks resulted in the deaths of 221 people (including the 15 hijackers) on board the three planes as well as 2,731 more in and around

4896-480: The U.S. embassy in April 1983 and attack on United States Marine and French barracks in October 1983 brought suicide bombings international attention and began the modern suicide bombing era. 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 had carried out a total of roughly 50 suicide bombings. The Syrian Social Nationalist Party sent

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4992-462: The ability to conceal weapons, make last-minute adjustments, and the lack of need for escape plans, rescue teams, efforts to conceal their identities or evade capture afterwards, and—in the case of suicide bombings—remote or delayed detonation. Although they accounted for only 4% of all terrorist attacks between 1981 and 2006, they resulted in 32% of terrorism-related deaths (14,599 deaths). 90% of these attacks occurred in Afghanistan , Iraq , Israel ,

5088-420: The attack, Black Tigers were allowed to visit their home one last time. After spending few days with their family and close friends they returned back to their base. The night before leaving for their mission, Black Tigers had the privilege of having dinner with the LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran . After, they were allowed to take individual and group photos with the LTTE leader. The first Black Tiger attack

5184-405: The attacks by the PLO against Israeli civilians, which culminated in an Israeli school bus hitting a mine in the Negev . This engagement marked the first known deployment of suicide bombers by Palestinian forces. On 27 December 2018, the Green Bay Press-Gazette interviewed veteran Mark Bentley, who had trained for the Special Atomic Demolition Munition program to manually place and detonate

5280-458: The battle. In the late 17th century, Qing official Yu Yonghe recorded that injured Dutch soldiers fighting against Koxinga 's forces for control of Taiwan in 1661 would use gunpowder to blow up both themselves and their opponents rather than be taken prisoner. However, Yu may have confused such suicidal tactics with the standard Dutch military practice of undermining and blowing up overrun positions, which almost cost Koxinga his life during

5376-1074: The body under clothing. In order to maximize the loss of life, the bombers seek out enclosed spaces, such as cafés or city buses crowded with people at rush hour . Less common are military targets (for example, soldiers waiting for transport at roadside). These bombings have tended to have more popular support than in other Muslim countries, and more music videos and announcements that promise eternal reward for suicide bombers can be found on Palestinian television (according to Palestinian Media Watch). Israeli sources observed that Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah operate "Paradise Camps", training children as young as 11 to become suicide bombers. In 2004, due to increased effectiveness in Israel's security measures and stricter checkpoint protocols, terrorist organizations began employing women and children more frequently as operatives, assuming that they would raise fewer suspicions and undergo less rigorous inspections. The September 11, 2001 attacks , orchestrated by al-Qaeda, has been called "the worst attack on American soil since

5472-419: The book on ‘Customs and etiquettes of Services’. With the introduction of Shanghai Class Fast Gun Boats in to the navy, Lieutenant Commander Fernando served as the commanding officer of SLNS Ranakamee from 1972 to 1973 and then commanded the Shershen-class torpedo boat SLNS Samudra Devi, which was the flagship of the fleet in 1980. In 1977, he attended Defence Services Staff College , Wellington . Promoted to

5568-475: The coast of Kankesanthurai. On 24 October 1994, the then leader of opposition and Member of Parliament Gamini Dissanayake , two former Ministers, several politicians, military and other security personnel were assassinated in a suicide attack carried by a female Black Tiger. On 19 April 1995, four Sea Black Tiger Frogmen sank two navy gunboats in the Trincomalee Harbour , resulting in the start of Eelam War III . On 31 January 1996, Black Tigers carried out

5664-485: The death of LTTE Sea Tiger leader Charles at the hands of a navy patrol launched from Nagathevanthurai. He was posthumously promoted to admiral and awarded the Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya and the Uttama Seva Padakkama . While in service he had received the Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal and Clasp , Republic of Sri Lanka Armed Services Medal , Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal and Clasp , Purna Bhumi Padakkama , President's Inauguration Medal and

5760-583: The death of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Black Tigers ceased to exist, along with other LTTE fighting formations. Black Tigers were drawn from the ranks of the LTTE's elite fighting formations. Those who wanted to join wrote letters to Velupillai Prabhakaran , the founder and leader of the LTTE. According to the LTTE, Prabhakaran evaluated the applications, examining the applicant's particular combat skills, field experience, fitness level, their motivations and their family situations. All these factors were considered in deciding whether he or she could become

5856-508: 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". The definition of "suicide" in this context is also a matter of debate. Suicide terrorism itself has been defined by Ami Pedahzur, a professor of government, 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

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5952-413: The forced eviction of Tamils from Colombo lodges in June 2007. Addressing the media the minister said there was no need for the Prime Minister to express regret over the move and insisted that all 300 Tamils were sent to Vavuniya after getting their 'verbal consent' in Colombo and subsequently written consent in Vavuniya. On 9 September 2008, an elite unit of 10 Black Tigers raided the joint headquarters of

6048-401: The ideology of Islamist martyrdom played a predominant role in motivating the majority of bombers, as noted by anthropologist Scott Atran . The usage of the term "suicide attack" has a long history, but "suicide bombing" dates back to at least 1940 when a New York Times article mentioned the term in relation to German tactics. Less than two years later, the New York Times referred to

6144-427: The incident. On 26 June 2006, a Black Tiger assassinated Lieutenant General Parami Kulatunga by driving an explosives-laden motorbike into his Peugeot 406 staff car at Panipitiya as he was on his way to army headquarters from his official quarters at the Panagoda Cantonment. He is the highest ranking army officer to be assassinated by the LTTE. On 16 October 2006, a Black Tiger drove an explosive laden truck into

6240-422: The mid-1990s The attacks first appeared in Israel and the Palestinian Territories in 1989. In early 2000, one analyst ( Yoram Schweitzer ) saw a pause in bombing campaigns and argued that "most of the groups that were involved in suicide terrorism either stopped using it or eventually reduced it significantly." The number of attacks using suicide tactics grew from an average of fewer than five per year during

6336-479: The motivation to kill and be killed connects some suicide attackers more closely to "suicidal rampage" murderers than is commonly thought. Islamist supporters often call a suicide attack Istishhad (often translated as " martyrdom operation ") and the suicide attacker shahid (pl. shuhada , "witness" and usually translated as "martyr"), the idea being that the attacker died in order to testify his faith in God, such as while waging jihad bis saif ( jihad by

6432-431: The non-Muslim Chinese as the Chinese were not considered enemies of the Moro people. The Japanese responded to these suicide attacks by massacring all known family members and relatives of the attacker(s). According to historian Stephan Dale, the Moro were not the only Muslims who carried out suicide attacks "in their fight against Western hegemony and colonial rule". In the 18th century, suicide tactics were used on

6528-404: The north and east of the country. Relatively, there were fewer operations in the south, where most of the Sinhalese live, especially in the capital city, Colombo , although such attacks often engaged high-profile targets and attracted much international publicity as a result. The last such attack was on government politicians during a Muslim festival. Suicide attack A suicide attack

6624-451: The president of Sri Lanka, Ranasinghe Premadasa . Another non-religious group involved in suicide attacks was the Kurdistan Workers' Party which began their insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984. According to the Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism 's Suicide Attack Database , as of 2015, ten suicide attacks by the PKK from 1996 to 2012 killed 32 people and injured 116. Al-Qaeda carried out its first suicide attack in

6720-451: The primary purpose of such a bombing is to kill other people, "homicide" is a more apt adjective than "suicide". The only major media outlets to use it were Fox News Channel and the New York Post , both of which are owned by News Corporation and have since mostly abandoned the term. Robert Goldney, a professor emeritus at the University of Adelaide , has argued in favor of the term "homicide bomber", arguing that studies show that there

6816-408: The railway bridge at Küstrin was definitely destroyed. He comments that "thirty-five pilots and aircraft was a high price to pay for such a limited and temporary success". The missions were called off when the Soviet ground forces reached the vicinity of the squadron's airbase at Jüterbog . Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff intended to assassinate Adolf Hitler by suicide bomb in 1943, but

6912-896: The rank of Commander in March 1978, he was the Commanding Officer of the SLNS Tissa and thereafter SLNS Elara, and served as the Master of the Ceylon Shipping Corporations MV Lanka Kanthi. Fernando was held the memberships of the British Institute of Management , and the Nautical Institute and had obtained a master's degree in defence studies. He had also been conferred with the certificate of Master Mariners and

7008-1067: The right time. One solution was to use a human trigger, which was the technique used to assassinate Tsar Alexander II of Russia in 1881. A would-be suicide-bomber killed Vyacheslav von Plehve , the Russian Minister of the Interior, in St Petersburg in 1904. During the Xinhai Revolution (the Revolution of 1911) and the Warlord Era of the Republic of China (1912–1949) , " Dare to Die Corps " ( traditional Chinese : 敢死隊 ; simplified Chinese : 敢死队 ; pinyin : gǎnsǐduì ; Wade–Giles : Kan-ssu-tui ) or "Suicide squads" were frequently used by Chinese armies. China deployed these suicide units against

7104-494: The sword). The term "suicide" is never used because Islam has strong strictures against taking one's own life. The terms Istishhad / "martyrdom operation" have been embraced by the Palestinian Authority as well as by Hamas , Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades , Fatah and other Palestinian factions. Some efforts have been made to replace the term "suicide bombing" with "homicide bombing", on the grounds that, since

7200-629: The target either on the person or in a civilian vehicle and delivered by surprise". (Noah Feldman and many others exclude terror attacks such as the Lod Airport massacre where "the perpetrator's ensured death" was not "a precondition for the success of his mission". ) The intended targets are often civilian, not just military or political. The Islamic Dawa Party 's car bombing of the Iraqi embassy in Beirut in December 1981 and Hezbollah 's bombing of

7296-402: The targeted buildings. A fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania , after a revolt by the plane's passengers, killing all 44 people (including the four hijackers) on board. In total, the attacks killed 2,996 people and injured more than 6,000 others . The U.S. stock market closed for four trading days after the attacks (the first time it had an unscheduled closing since

7392-646: The terrorist free use of the sea. He pioneered small boat operations , initially in the Kilali lagoon in Jaffna which later evolved in the Special Boat Squadron and the Rapid Action Boat Squadron in later decades. The navy under took in landing the army in its first amphibious operation Operation Balavegaya in 1991. He was assassinated by a LTTE suicide bomber who drove an explosives laden motorbike into his staff car on

7488-411: The thought that it was anything other than a one-way mission. If you're Bruce Willis, you get away, but I ain't Bruce Willis." However, employment manuals for atomic demolition munitions specifically describe the firing party and their guard retreating from the emplacement site, at which point the device is protected through a combination of passive security measures including concealment, camouflage and

7584-442: 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 defenses and return to a mother ship after firing their torpedoes. Although extremely hazardous, these midget submarine attacks were not technically suicide missions, as the earlier midget submarines had escape hatches. Kaitens, however, provided no means of escape. During

7680-553: The uprising that began the Wuchang Uprising , and were recognized as heroes and martyrs by the Kuomintang party and the Republic of China . The martyrs in the Dare to Die Corps who died in battle wrote letters to family members before heading off to certain death. The Huanghuakang was built as a monument to the 72 martyrs. The deaths of the revolutionaries helped the establishment of the Republic of China, overthrowing

7776-507: The use of decoys, as well as active security measures including booby-traps, obstacles such as concertina wire and landmines, and long ranged artillery fire. Further, the SADM included a Field Wire Remote Control System (FWRCS), a device that enabled the sending of safe/arm and firing signals to the weapon via a wire for safe remote detonation of the weapon. Modern suicide bombing has been defined as "involving explosives deliberately carried to

7872-473: Was Vallipuram Vasanthan , who drove a small truck laden with explosives into a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp in Nelliady , Jaffna peninsula, on 5 July 1987 during the Battle of Nelliady , killing himself and between 39 and 100 Sri Lankan soldiers. Immediately afterwards, regular LTTE cadres followed up, overwhelming the stunned SLA soldiers. This was a hugely effective retaliatory attack using explosives from

7968-503: Was a one-way mission, a suicide mission." "You set your timer, and it would click when it went off, or it went ding or I forget what, but you knew you were toast. Ding! Your toast is ready, and it's you." He also commented, "The Army is not going to set a bomb like that and run away and leave it, because they don't know if someone else would get ahold of it. They have to leave troops there to make sure it's not stolen or compromised, and that would just be collateral damage. You didn't go out with

8064-417: Was a senior Sri Lanka Navy officer. He served as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy from 1 November 1991 to 16 November 1992, when he was assassinated by the LTTE he was the most senior officer in the Sri Lankan armed forces to be killed in the line of duty. Born on 10 October 1938, Fernando was educated at Prince of Wales' College, Moratuwa , where he was a member of the team Western Band. He joined

8160-534: Was assassinated by a Black Tiger who exploded himself at the start of a marathon race which was part of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebration in Weliveriya town. Fernandopulle was the chief government whip for the ruling SLFP party and was infamous for his ardent nationalistic stance favouring the Sinhala Buddhist majority. A very close associate of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, he strongly justified

8256-582: Was assigned as First Lieutenant to HMCyS Aliya which was part of HMCyS Coastal Forces. From 1963 to 1964 he was the commanding officer of the short patrol boat, HMCyS Diyakawa. He serves with the Royal Ceylon Navy in Trincomalee, Tangalle and Karainagar, serving on board HMCyS Gajabahu , the flagship of the fleet. He introduced the Sinhala communication system into the navy and authored

8352-539: Was carried out on 5 July 1987 by Captain Miller against a Sri Lankan Army military base in Jaffna. Miller drove a bomb filled vehicle into the heart of the base. Scores of soldiers were killed and wounded. In May 1991, a female Black Tiger blew herself up, killing former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi , along with 16 civilians. On 16 November 1992, a Black Tiger assassinated Admiral Clancy Fernando by driving an explosives laden motorbike into his staff car while he

8448-741: Was killed by a Black Tiger who exploded his suicide vest after embracing the minister during a political rally in Anuradhapura. He served as the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army and is considered one of the most distinguished generals in Sri Lankan history. Up to the defeat of the LTTE, the Black Tigers carried out over 300 missions, most of them at sea. The Black Tigers operated in three distinct ways: conventional combat on land and at sea, guerrilla attacks, and assassinations or bombings. Most of these attacks involved military objectives in

8544-755: Was killed. The Moros performed juramentado suicide attacks against the Spanish in the Spanish–Moro conflict of the 16th to the 19th centuries, against the Americans in the Moro Rebellion (1899–1913), and against the Japanese in World War II . The Moro juramentados aimed their attacks specifically against their enemies, not against non-Muslims in general. They launched suicide attacks on the Japanese, Spanish, Americans and Filipinos, but did not attack

8640-707: Was led by the All-Aceh Religious Scholars' Association (PUSA). The Japanese suffered 18 dead in the uprising while they slaughtered up to 100 or over 120 Acehnese. The revolt happened in Bayu and was centred around Tjot Plieng village's religious school. During the revolt, the Japanese troops armed with mortars and machine guns were charged by sword wielding Acehnese under Teungku Abduldjalil (Tengku Abdul Djalil) in Buloh Gampong Teungah and Tjot Plieng on 10 and 13 November. In May 1945

8736-429: Was on his way to naval headquarters at Flagstaff Street in the Galle Buck from his official residence "Navy House" at Longden Place, Colombo after he returned from India after discussing Indo-Sri Lankan naval cooperation. He is the highest ranking officer in the Sri Lankan Armed Forces to be killed by the LTTE. On 1 May 1993, a male Black Tiger assassinated Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa and 23 others during

8832-484: Was the first President of Sri Lanka Branch of the Nautical Institute . On 30 June 1983, he was appointed Director Naval Operations. Promoted the rank of Captain on 1 January 1984, he was appointed Commandant of the Naval and Maritime Academy . He was promoted to Commodore in July 1986 and served as Commander Western Naval Area, Commander Eastern Naval Area, and Security Forces Commander, Trincomalee. In 1987, he attended

8928-482: Was the intended target. On 25 January 1998, Black Tigers carried out the 1998 Temple of the Tooth attack that killed 17 civilians and injured 25 others. On 14 May 1998, a Black Tiger assassinated Major General Larry Wijeratne on the last day of his duty assignment in Valvettithurai , Jaffna. Wijeratne was attending a Jaffna traders' felicitation lunch just before leaving on transfer as deputy commandant of

9024-497: Was unable to complete the attack. North Korean tanks were attacked by South Koreans with suicide tactics during the Korean War. American tanks at Seoul were attacked by North Korean suicide squads, who used satchel charges. North Korean soldier Li Su-Bok is considered a hero for destroying an American tank with a suicide bomb. According to Egyptian media, an Arab Christian military officer from Syria, Jules Jammal , sunk

9120-474: Was used during the Battle of Shanghai , to stop a Japanese tank column when an attacker exploded himself beneath the lead tank, and at the Battle of Taierzhuang where Chinese troops with dynamite and grenades strapped to themselves rushed Japanese tanks and blew themselves up, in one incident obliterating four Japanese tanks with grenade bundles. During the 1946–1950 Communist Revolution , coolies fighting

9216-534: Was ushered out of the building. Sewell detonated the charge when a police officer tried to arrest him on the street, blowing his body to pieces. No one other than Sewell was killed by the attack. In 1780, an Indian woman named Kuyili applied ghee and oil onto her body and set herself ablaze. She then jumped into an armoury of the East India Company , causing it to explode. This suicide attack helped to secure victory for her queen, Velu Nachiyar , in

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