Fear of female suicide bombers beginning of wisdom

MIA BLOOM, a professor of security studies at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, and the author of “Bombshell: Women and Terror” and “Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror”, in this piece for Washington Post  argues that female suicide bombers are not a new phenomenon

 There were four suicide bombing attacks by young women in Kano, Nigeria. Especially worrying is that the reported ages of the suicide bombers are getting younger and younger. A 10-year-old girl strapped with a suicide bomber’s explosives belt and her older sister were taken into police custody. The attacks raise concerns that Boko Haram has doubled its mobilisation base.
These attacks and others led the city of Kano to ban public worship and celebrations of Eid, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan. Local police have issued warnings about women covered in hijab.

Who are the female suicide bombers in Kano?
Three narratives have emerged about who these young bombers were. A handful of reports originally suggested the women were among the Chibok girls kidnapped April 14 and other women and young girls abducted by Boko Haram over the past year. Another report instead alleges the young women are actually impoverished Kano beggars who have been outlawed by Kwankwaso. But a Nigeria-based security analyst says the suicide bombers are more likely to be the offspring of Boko Haram members.
The truth is we don’t know who these female bombers are, and we likely won’t anytime soon. In contrast to male suicide bombers, few female bombers leave “last will and testament” videos that could provide positive identification. What is clear is that regardless of whether the young women were girls abducted in Chibok or poor women picked up off the streets, Boko Haram has now embraced this tactical innovation quickly and with deadly results.
This is not a new phenomenon.
Nigerian scholars have echoed what I have claimed in my own research on women and terrorism – that female suicide bombers are not a new phenomenon, even in Africa. As early as December 2009, Al Shabaab began to disguise themselves as women in order to effectively carry out suicide-bomber targeted assassinations. Al Shabaab began to pair a male and female operative to give the appearance of a couple on a date. This was particularly effective when the group would attack soft targets like hotels, restaurants or markets.

Women have been involved in terrorism since the 19th century, but religious groups previously eschewed the use of female bombers. The innovation in tactics by these groups introduces new challenges to those defending against terrorism. As scholar Nojeem Shobo of the University of Lagos has said, including women as perpetrators in terrorist attacks brings a “disturbing twist to the fight against insurgency.”