The battle against terrorism that we faced over 30 years taught us many lessons. The LTTE was one of the most ruthless terror organisations in the world.
They were very committed and a highly trained motivated group. Distorted history of the motherland was used to motivate, brain wash and foster bitterness towards the Sinhalese. The LTTE cadres were told that a separate state “Elaam” was the only alternative.
Suicide Unit
The organisation had many units, out of which was explosive handling unit, IED (improvised explosive devices) under experts and the suicide unit was the most effective. The explosive unit had invented many ruse tactics and launched 123 attacks where they used 46 waist belts, 44 boats, 23 vehicles, two planes and eight group attacks. 80 percent of the cadres were between 20-30 years.
There are three types of suicide cadres identified in the world. Anomic, egoistic and altruistic. The LTTE falls into the altruistic category. They are known to be very unselfish, committed, disciplined, caring and has the ability to mingle in society and wait for long periods without getting attracted to any comforts and succumb to change of mind and be patient till the target appears.
Easter attacks
In the recent April 21, Easter attacks (Muslim) carders are identified as egoistic. They become suicide cadres as they are alienated and separated from society. They are very selfish and the complete opposite of the altruistic category.
First suicide attack in Sri Lanka
It was carried out on July, 5, 1987 by LTTE Cadre Wasantha (Captain Miller) who drove an explosive filled lorry into the army camp in Nelliadi, Jaffna where a large number of SF personnel were killed.
On May, 21, 1991 Rajiv Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India attended a political meeting in the run up to the general election.
Three LTTE cadres approached him at the meeting venue in Chennai giving the impression that they are his supporters and sought to garland him on arrival.
During the procession a female suspect activated the suicide jacket which she was wearing killing the Prime Minister and many others. During the investigations it was revealed the suicide jacket was a very special type of explosive device compared to all the other jackets used in the past.
The LTTE went on to introduce various tactics to get to their targets. The human bomb that killed Rajiv Gandhi is one of them. Apart from the suicide bomber there were 15 member teams who supported this suicide carder (12 of them committed suicide during the investigations).
Waist Jacket /Waist Belt
The explosive charge was spread over the vest on the assassin’s back while the right arm was engaged to activate the bomb.
She was in a bending position as if it was to touch Gandhi’s feet, in a classic obligatory of Indian social behaviour in order to detonate the bomb.
A person of the highest status bends slightly over the person touching his feet in a respectful manner. This position would have really hit the full force of the explosion as he was very close to the main charge.
Jacket Belt configuration was not that of a conventional type of jacket. It was a combination of two separate flaps resembling an apron hanging in front and other on the rear. Very similar to a life jacket with a strap from rear to front binding both sides.
The steal balls embedded in the explosives acted as missiles in addition, bone fragments of the assassin also acted as missiles.
These bone fragments of the assassin vertebral and rib bones would drive as high-speed missiles to hit the target in the front.
That is why the Indian expert (Dr. Chandrasekaram) identified this explosive device is the first human bomb that was produced in the world.
This proves the capability of this ruthless terrorist organisation. It is also very important to realise the amount of planning of the whole operation to perfection in another country.
A suicide bomber has to be trained to believe that this act has meaning and lead to secondary gain.
Kamikaze pilots
During the Second World War 1944/45 Japanese pilots “Kamikaze” launched 3843 plane attacks and destroyed 375 American ships although they knew they were losing the war.
However, they were not identified as terrorist attacks as they never targeted the civilians. Since then, Japan has come a long way. They have managed to transform that destructive suicide mentality of the young society to be a country that pioneers in financial and industrial stability and a country that leads the path in agriculture.
Taking Japan as a role model we too should understand we have a highly motivated younger generation as we have proved that during the conflict period (both sides).
Considering this fact, at the end of a conflict the focus on a proper analysis and a constructive vision should be established to take the nation to the next level of prosperity.