The new face of terror

The Straights Times ^ | 22 April 2002 | SHEFALI REKHI

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The new face of terror

The spate of female suicide bombings in the Middle East this year is throwing the spotlight on the growing involvement of women in terror groups and is raising concern. SHEFALI REKHI of the Straits Times Foreign desk reports.

THERE was little to suggest that Ayat Al-akhras would end her life by detonating a bomb strapped to her body. She was 18, a bright student and engaged to be married in July.

Yet on March 29, the Palestinian from the Dehaishe refugee camp on the outskirts of Bethlehem crossed into Jerusalem, evading Israeli military checkpoints, belted herself with explosives and made her way into a crowded supermarket.

Minutes later, confronted by a security guard, she blew herself up, killing two others and leaving Israel even more unnerved.

She was the third female suicide bomber to strike the Jewish state this year.

FIRST PALESTINIAN WOMEN SUICIDE BOMBERS
WAFA IDRIS -First of the women suicide bombers. -A 26-year-old ambulance worker from the Ramallah refugee camp. -Blew herself up in cen	DAREEN ABU ISH -Twenty-one-year-old Nablus University student, studying English literature. -joined the Al-Aqsa brigade after her membership was rejected by Hamas. -Detonated herself in central Jerusalem in Feburary, killing a policeman.	AYAT AL-AKHRAS -An 18-year-old student form the Dehaishe refugee camp on the outskirts of Bethlehem. -Crossed unoticed into Jerusalem on March 29 and made her way to a crowded supermarket where she blew herself up, killing two others.
Photos by AFP and REUTERS

In hot spots across the globe, a disconcerting trend is making intelligence and security experts sit up: Women are playing an increasingly active role in militant groups.

Women have been known to play supporting roles in such organisations.

But recent developments show that they are moving up the hierarchy, say experts.

They are now taking leadership positions and helping to implement their groups' missions, increasing the threat to society, they add.

'Earlier, females were not involved in combat roles in many militant outfits,' terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna told The Straits Times in a telephone interview from Britain.

'But now you find that more groups are recruiting women and using them in the decision-making process.

'It is partly to do with the feminism thing, with women wanting to show that they are as good as men.'

Female militants are making their presence felt not only in the Middle East but also in Chechnya, South Asia and South-east Asia.

Ambulance worker Wafa Idris, 26, from the Ramallah refugee camp, blazed the trail for women militants in the Middle East by blowing herself up in central Jerusalem in January this year.

Nablus University student Dareen Abu Ish then followed her example. She detonated herself in central Jerusalem in February, killing a policeman.

All three women bombers had been armed by the Al-Aqsa brigade.

The group is linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, which claims to have a special unit for training female suicide bombers.

Chechnya, too, has had its first female suicide bomber.

Last December, the 25-year-old widow of a former member of an armed group approached regional military commander Gaidar Gajiyev and blew herself up.

The commander and two of his guards were injured seriously while another guard and the bomber died in the blast.

And in Sri Lanka, research shows that women from the Black Tigers suicide-attack unit of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) carry out between 30 and 40 per cent of the group's suicide bombing missions.

In other parts of South Asia and South-east Asia, women are moving up the ranks in militant organisations although suicide attacks are not yet the norm there.

Indian forces report that Pakistani militants in Kashmir are using women as spies and 'enticers'.

Women are also important activists in the Maoist insurgency struggles in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar in India, according to the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS) in Colombo.

In the Philippines, the number of women in the New People's Army (NPA), the military wing of the Communist Party of Philippines (CPP), has shot up from 20 per cent to more than 30 per cent in the past five years.

Congressman Satur Ocampo, who represents a party identified with the underground CPP, told The Straits Times that women were playing a more important role in the 12,000-strong army.

'Women have been able to formalise their role within the group, take up leadership positions and even lead fighting units,' he said.

In one ambush, the woman who led the raid waited to shake hands with wounded police before leaving.

Such is the reputation generated by the NPA that, in February, a top Philippine officer warned the public to be vigilant about their young sons.

'Charming and lovely' members of the NPA were out to recruit youngsters, he said.

RCSS executive director Dipankar Banerjee says measures should be taken to deal with the underlying causes of terrorism in South-east Asia.

Otherwise, the region could soon see suicide-bombings.

The growth of terrorism 'takes time, continued disaffection, external support, motivation and state neglect', he said.

'I reckon that in another five years or so, if such conditions prevail in any society in South-east Asia, suicide terrorism will make an entry; and a few years later, women terrorists may also be found,' he said.

Experts say militant groups are using women more frequently in their operations because they are less likely to raise suspicion.

Women are also eager to prove themselves to be more capable than men, and the chances of them being detected by security forces are lower.

Researcher Yoram Schweitzer, of Israel's International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, believes militant leaders often manipulate the women members of their groups to volunteer for suicide missions.

In a paper that he presented at an international conference on countering suicide terrorism in February last year, he said women militants were more to be found in groups with a nationalistic orientation such as the LTTE and the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) in Turkey.

'The fundamentalist Islamic terror groups have never let women take part in their terrorist activities, let alone in suicide terrorism,' he said.

But that could be changing.

Following their crackdown on the Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM) last June, police discovered the group had plans to set up a women's wing.

Investigations showed that the wing was to involve the wives of the group's 200 members as well as other women who supported the group's goal of setting up an Islamic state through the use of force.

As Dr Bruce Hoffman, terrorism specialist at the Rand Corp, a prominent US think-tank, said in an interview: 'September 11 has taught us the inadequacy of going by past trends.

'We must be prepared for that which cannot be predicted.'

[csvset]

Terrorist bump.

[backhoe]

The Web of Terror

[Icthus]

"..Women have been able to formalise their role within the group, take up leadership positions and even lead fighting units.."

[csvset]

I saw clips of the Pro-Pali/Terror rally that was held in DC. Sisters in arms with the female terror bombers around the world. They choose to live in the relative safety of the USA though.

It will probably just be a matter of time before the waves of homicide bombers strike in the USA; WalMarts, Burger Kings, Pizza Huts, bus and train stations, etc.

[backhoe]

I've been waiting with bated breath for the Third Wave of attacks, and if they aren't bio or nuke, they'll be bombs against civilians.... which is why we ( and the Israelis ) need to hammer these SOB's so hard they won't even dream of wanting to attack us ever again.

[Tunehead54]

But recent developments show that they (women) are moving up the hierarchy, say experts.

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Not much career advancement for homicide bombers ... one "job" and you're career is over.

[Delbert]

Doent make for a very long resume does it? Previous job: Suicide Bomber. Well what are you doing here if you were a suicide bomber? Well I wasnt very good at it and I wanted a job with oppurtunities for advancement.

[MarineDad]

There was little to suggest that Ayat Al-akhras would end her life by detonating a bomb strapped to her body. She was 18, a bright student and engaged to be married in July

Alas, there was also that unfortunate connection with the greatest sham religion the world has ever know, the result of which is so ever plain to see...

[CaptRon]

NOW would be so proud to see what they've wrought.

[swarthyguy]

OK this will probably get deleted--
When a palestinian woman says "I want to blow you", watch out.

[CJ Wolf]

lol