The rise of a jihadi suicide culture

Sharm el-Sheikh. London. Casablanca. The men who carried out the terrorist bombings in each of these cities came from dramatically different backgrounds. In London, the attackers were lower middle-class Britons. In Casablanca in 2003, they were all from one of the city’s poor neighborhoods. And in Sharm el-Sheikh Saturday – although the investigation into the deadliest terror attack in Egyptian history is just getting under way – local officials say there are indications the attackers have links to an attack here last October carried out by a cell of working-class Egyptians. While some counterterrorism experts say evidence may eventually link all of these attacks to the core of Al Qaeda’s leadership suspected of hiding along the Pakistan-Afghan border, the diverse backgrounds of the presumed attackers underscore a shift: The culture of Islamist suicide bombers is becoming more commonplace, as is the defining of civilians as “enemies.” Full Story