Every week, The WorldPost asks an expert to shed light on a topic making headlines around the world. Today, we speak with Elizabeth Pearson about Boko Haram’s use of female suicide bombers.
Last Sunday, a small girl strapped with explosives killed herself and five others at a market in Potiskum, a town in northeast Nigeria. Witnesses said the girl looked about 7 years old. The week before that, a young woman blew herself up at a bus station in the nearby town of Damaturu, leaving at least 10 people dead. Witnesses said they thought the bomber looked about 16. Most of the casualties were children who had been begging nearby.
The bombings are widely believed to be the work of Boko Haram, the extremist group that is carrying out a brutal insurgency in northeast Nigeria and that last year kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls in the town of Chibok. The group has stepped up its suicide attacks in the past year, particularly those involving girls and women.
The WorldPost discussed the rise in attacks with Elizabeth Pearson, a gender and radicalization researcher in defense studies at King’s College London. She’s also a member of the Nigeria Security Network and has written about female suicide bombers in Nigeria.
When did Boko Haram start using suicide bombers?
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This tactic doesn’t seem to be going away in 2015. Boko Haram does face the risk that using children as suicide bombers may end up alienating people. This is the gamble they take.
Many analysts suggested that Boko Haram’s use of female suicide bombers was an indication of their weakness. Many groups resort to using women suicide bombers when they’re under pressure. But Boko Haram did not seem desperate. Their campaign has only grown in intensity. I don’t see the group facing a shortage of recruits. They pay people to fight, they force people to fight through threats and kidnappings, and they also have a support base. They only need more people as their ambition has grown.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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– Could The New Syriza Government Be Good For Greece’s Economy?
– Naming The Dead: One Group’s Struggle To Record Deaths From U.S. Drone Strikes In Pakistan
