Abstract
This article proposes that there are four primary types of suicide terrorist: (1) conventional suicide terrorists, who become suicidal owing to classic risk factors, (2) coerced suicide terrorists, who become suicidal because they fear the organizational consequences of not carrying out attacks, (3) escapist suicide terrorists, who become suicidal because they fear being captured by the enemy, and (4) indirect suicide terrorists, who become suicidal at an unconscious level and orchestrate their deaths in ways that disguise their desire to die. It then outlines behavioral expectations for each type, in terms of warning signs, tactical experience and attack styles, and concludes with recommendations for security countermeasures and future research.
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Lankford, A. A suicide-based typology of suicide terrorists: Conventional, coerced, escapist and indirect. Secur J 27, 80–96 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1057/sj.2012.20
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/sj.2012.20