Female suicide bombers, Kenya and Sri Lanka

Two separate articles in my world news feed, but on the same subject. And Kenya is one side of the Indian ocean and Sri Lanka is the other and the Maldives are inbetween… From Modern Ghana and Lanka Web

Why we did it: the Kenyan women and girls who joined Al-Shabaab By Fathima Azmiya Badurdeen – The Conversation

The direct involvement of women and girls in terrorism has attracted increased interest as the nature of recruitment tactics has evolved. In Kenya, their involvement in terrorist networks, such as the Al-Shabaab, is an emerging trend . The recruitment of female members is most evident in Kenya’s coastal and North Eastern counties but has also been reported in many other counties.

Women and girls have been identified as recruiters for the terrorist group, logistics planners, financial conduits, spies for terrorist activities and in some cases, masterminds behind terrorist attacks or conveners of terror cells.

I found that women may participate willingly because the extremist ideology resonates with their religiously inclined cultural values. They may also join due to the financial benefits that come with belonging to or associating with the group. Also, women may be forced or coerced to join through deception or intimidation.

In my most recent study I looked at different ways in which recruitment occurs to analyse the diverse motivations of women and girls to join Al-Shabaab in the coastal region of Kenya. In particular, I sought to establish the “voluntariness” of their decisions – in other words, did they sign up on their own volition?

I interviewed 36 women or girls who had returned home from terrorist camps or defected from the network. I generated 16 case accounts of women and girls who explained ‘voluntariness’ in Al-Shabaab recruitment. The study revealed that the gender-dynamics of submission and subordination within families and the community contributes to Al-Shabaab recruitment. However, there were political and ideological motivations too. I’ll let you read on at the main website. 

Zahran Hashim trained 15 female suicide bombers – Police

It has been revealed that Zahran Hashim, the ring leader behind the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks, had trained 15 women to become suicide bombers. Police Media Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana stated that the information was revealed during the interrogation of the girl who was arrested by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) recently.

The 24-year-old Mohamed Ibrahim Saheeda was arrested at Hingula in Mawanella on Friday (February 19) over her close links to Easter Sunday bombers.

She was identified as the sister of Mohamed Ibrahim Sadeek Abdul Haq and Mohamed Ibrahim Shaheed Abdul Haq – the main suspects in the Buddha statue vandalism incident in Mawanella. The duo, who was arrested in Gampola a week after the carnage, are still in remand custody.

Saheeda has divulged that she had attended lectures on extremism conducted by Zahran Hashim at Kattankudy back in 2018.

It has been further revealed that 5 of the 15 women were killed in the explosion in Sainthamaruthu following the Easter attack. The remaining bombers are currently imprisoned or under the custody of the TID, said DIG Ajith Rohana.

During the interrogation of the Terrorism Investigation Division, it was revealed that about 15 women had participated in the classes conducted by Zahran Hashim in December 2018.

Five of these women were killed in a suicide bombing in the Saindamardu area. Three other women have been remanded. In addition, 7 other women including the woman arrested the day before yesterday are currently in the custody of the Terrorism Investigation Division. It has been revealed that the women had taken the ‘Bayat’ oath [oath of allegiance] after attending the classes by the criminal named Zahran Hashim. The ‘Bayat’ oath states that they will be prepared to carry out a suicide attack at any given moment.”

If you look at the list they are all related to various of the men. I’m surprised there have not been more.