Spotlight

Gender Distribution of Suicide Bombers: 9% Female (January 2005 Report).

Female Suicide Bombers: Dying to Kill. [Middle East] As a spate of suicide bombings around the world in recente years has shown, the face of terror is increasingly female. In 1991 a female Sri Lankan separatist killed herself and former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Since then similar bombings have occurred in Turkey, Pakistan, Israel, Uzbekistan, and Iraq.

'Female Bombers' Held. [Pakistan] Two sisters suspected of training to be suicide bombers have been arrested from the northern Pakistani town of Swat. These are the first ever arrests in Pakistan of women charged with being suicide bombers.

Woman at Israeli Hospital Had Explosives. [Israel] A badly burned Palestinian woman was alternately defiant and tearful after Israeli soldiers caught her trying to enter Israel with 22 pounds of explosives hidden on her body.

Three Lessons from a Woman Terrorist. [Palestine] Not many women have the advantages that Wafa al-Bas had. She knew what her aspirations were since she was a little girl. She also had strong support from her community, especially the religious leaders and even a burn injury brought forth humanitarian medical aid. On 20 June 2005 this suddenly came to an end.

Female Suicide Bombers Await Endless Towel Boys, Lancôme Beauty Products. [Palestine] While heavenly promises to male suicide bombers include 72 virgins, Arab clerics confirmed for the first time, that heavenly gifts for female suicide bombers would include 15 towel boys, a deluxe Lacôme gift pack, and unlimited time in the spa.

Forced Female Suicide. [Palestine] Evidence suggests that the Palestinians have created yet another form of Arab honor killing. Palestinian girls and women are being recruited, seduced, and trapped, by older male terrorists in very woman-specific ways.

A Cult of Reluctant Killers. [Chechnya] The 'black widows' -- suicide bombers who stalk Russia -- are driven by hatred, ideology, coercion and fear.