On April 25, a yet-unidentified woman, pretending to be pregnant , detonated herself at a military complex , allegedly targeting a high ranking army commander, in Colombo, Sri Lanka . According to the Sri Lankan military, she waited for her target to leave for a lunch break when she detonated herself, after waiting at a bus stop, as he passed her by (source). She killed eight people, although not her target, and injured 29 others. The woman, believed to be an LTTE Black Tigress?a member of the prestigious female suicide squad?presented falsified identification papers and indicated that she had a prenatal doctor’s appointment at the military hospital, and she was allowed to pass.
Hers was the first attack in Colombo since November 2005 and the first suicide mission in the city since July 2004 , also launched by a female. However, the LTTE has been using women since 1984, one year after the insurgency began, and the group is about two-thirds female, while the suicide battalions are about 60% female. According to Linda Grant de Pauw’s Battle Cries and Lullabies, the women involved in the group are attracted by its strong feminist rhetoric. Conversely, Rosemarie Skaine’s Female Suicide Bombers notes that women may have been recruited due to the “need to replace the men?for combat duty against government troops.” Membership allows women freedom of movement and social interaction that would otherwise be barred. Reality is likely all of the above. Many women are also drawn to the LTTE for redemption for indiscretions, sterility, and/or shame, all common motivations for female suicide terrorism on a global scale. Skaine rightly contends that women are better suited for concealing and carrying?for example, pregnancy?bombs, and, as this case illustrates, they are far more likely to pass through security with ease. While the women are trained in female-only camps, have a female-only leadership cadre, and a female-only fighting commando (Birds of Freedom), the mere fact that women are encouraged to participate in the resistance is a tremendously liberating and equalizing undertaking for many Tamil women in Sri Lanka. According to Yoram Schweitzer, in Skaine’s book, “[the LTTE is] unequivocally the most effective and brutal terrorist organization ever to utilize suicide terrorism.”
That the woman was able to penetrate a heavily-fortified military complex through lies, charm, and/or pity is an embarrassment to the Sri Lankan military, which has been combating LTTE terrorism, to include female pregnancy cases, for 25 years. According to Skaine’s interview with Robert Pape, prior to conducting suicide missions, Black Tigers/Tigresses conduct dress rehearsals of their mission; so, this woman is highly likely to have mulled around the compound in the lead-up to her mission. And, in Pape’s 1980-2001 study, LTTE Black Tiger/Tigresses successfully conducted their suicide missions 75 out of 76 times, allowing for assurances that if one were operationalized, it is exceedingly likely to come to fruition. Further, Skaine notes that the LTTE typically target senior military or political entities; Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka should have been an anticipated mark due to his ranking status, let alone his vehemently anti-LTTE stance.
No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, but the LTTE has a demonstrated history of using women as suicide bombers and has the notorious distinction of having invented the use of the pregnancy bomb and the suicide vest. After a more detailed investigation is conducted, should the bomber have a cyanide capsule necklace, a mandate of the Black Tigers, the attack could conclusively be credited to the LTTE, regardless of whether they claim it. As yet, her severed head was found in a nearby tree and will help with the identification process.
Images being posted on Yahoo!News Slideshow of the aftermath of the attack show 20 photos, about half of them targeted military installation. In not one image, is a female soldier or security agent seen. If military security agents in a country that has specifically been battling precisely what they succumbed to on April 25, US security personnel should take heed. Security officials cannot be distracted or presumptuous in their efforts to secure critical infrastructure and the public domain. Women are typically viewed as the givers of life, not the takers, and are, thus, not thought of as capable of terrorism, let alone suicide missions. The allusion of motherhood with the use of the pregnancy bomb can lull those charged with securing facilities into a false state of security. Women are the preferred method of suicide bombings by the LTTE because?as was illustrated by this example?women are:
? excluded from established profiles of terrorists (despite more than two decades of combating the insurgency),
? they are not subjected to rigorous checks, and
? modest dress allows for better concealment.
Their use is not only a tactical necessity, but also a tactical surety. Knowing what triggers have been used in the past to recruit women, security machinations around the world can, and must, adjust to combat?or prevent?this type of terrorism.
