Suicide attack in the context of "Definition of terrorism"

The war in Afghanistan was a prolonged armed conflict lasting from 2001 to 2021. It began with an invasion by a United States–led coalition under the name Operation Enduring Freedom in response to the September 11 attacks carried out by the Taliban-allied and Afghanistan-based al-Qaeda. The Taliban were expelled from major population centers by American-led forces supporting the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, thus toppling the Taliban-ruled Islamic Emirate. Three years later, the American-sponsored Islamic Republic was established, but by then the Taliban, led by founder Mullah Omar, had reorganized and begun an insurgency against the Afghan government and coalition forces. The conflict ended almost twenty years later as the 2021 Taliban offensive reestablished the Islamic Emirate. It was the longest war in United States military history, surpassing the Vietnam War by six months.

Following the September 11 attacks, masterminded by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, American president George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban immediately extradite him to the United States and close down al-Qaeda's camps in Afghanistan; the Taliban refused and demanded evidence of bin Laden's guilt before offering to hand him over to a neutral country. The U.S. dismissed these offers and proceeded with the invasion. After expelling the Taliban and their allies, the American-led coalition remained in Afghanistan, forming the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)—sanctioned by the United Nations—with the goal of creating a new democratic authority in the country that would prevent the Taliban from returning to power. A new Afghan Interim Administration was established, and international rebuilding efforts were launched. By 2003, the Taliban had reorganized and launched a widespread insurgency against the new Afghan government and coalition forces. Insurgents from the Taliban and other Islamist groups waged asymmetric warfare, fighting with guerrilla warfare in the countryside, suicide attacks

The 2002 Bali bombings were a series of terrorist attacks on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attacks killed 202 people—including 88 Australians and 38 local Indonesians—and injured a further 209, making it the worst terrorist act in Indonesia's history.

Various members of Jemaah Islamiyah (also abbreviated JI), a violent Islamist group, were convicted in relation to the bombings, including three who were sentenced to death. The attack involved the detonation of three bombs: a bomb vest worn by a suicide bomber; a large car bomb, both of which were detonated in or near popular Kuta nightclubs; and a third, much smaller device detonated outside the United States consulate in Denpasar, causing only minor damage.

Mohamed Atta (1 September 1968 – 11 September 2001) was an Egyptian engineer and terrorist hijacker for al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, he was the ringleader of the September 11 attacks and served as the hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, which he flew into the North Tower of the original World Trade Center as part of coordinated suicide attacks. Aged 33, he was the oldest of the 19 hijackers who took part in the mission. Before the attacks, he worked as a civil engineer.

Born and raised in Egypt, Atta studied architecture at Cairo University, graduating in 1990, and pursued postgraduate studies in Germany at the Hamburg University of Technology. In Hamburg, Atta became involved with the al-Quds Mosque where he met Marwan al-Shehhi, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, and Ziad Jarrah, together forming the Hamburg cell. Atta disappeared from Germany for periods of time, embarking on the hajj in 1995 but also meeting Osama bin Laden and other top al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan from late 1999 to early 2000. Atta and the other Hamburg cell members were recruited by bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed for a "planes operation" in the United States.

Marwan al-Shehhi (9 May 1978 – 11 September 2001) was an Emirati terrorist hijacker for al-Qaeda. He was the hijacker-pilot on United Airlines Flight 175 (Boeing 767). As part of the September 11 attacks, he crashed the plane into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in a suicide attack. He was one of five hijackers aboard the aircraft and one of two Emiratis to take part in the attacks, the other being Fayez Banihammad, who helped him hijack the same plane.

Al-Shehhi was a university student in applied sciences from the United Arab Emirates. In 1996, at the age of 18, he moved to Germany to pursue his university education. There, he met Mohamed Atta and Ziad Jarrah, who were also studying applied sciences and engineering. Shortly thereafter, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who provided them with financial support, joined them, and they formed the Hamburg cell. Together, after pledging their lives to martyrdom (Jihad), they became the leaders of the September 11 attacks.

A car bomb, bus bomb, van bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles.

Car bombs can be roughly divided into two main categories: those used primarily to kill the occupants of the vehicle (often as an assassination) and those used as a means to kill, injure or damage people and buildings outside the vehicle. The latter type may be parked (the vehicle disguising the bomb and allowing the bomber to get away), or the vehicle might be used to deliver the bomb (often as part of a suicide bombing).

Kamikaze (神風; pronounced [kamiꜜkaze]; 'divine wind' or 'spirit wind'), officially Shinpū Tokubetsu Kōgekitai (神風特別攻撃隊; 'Divine Wind Special Attack Unit'), were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to destroy warships more effectively than with conventional air attacks. About 3,800 kamikaze pilots died during the war in attacks that killed more than 7,000 Allied naval personnel, sank several dozen warships, and damaged scores more. The term is used generically in modern warfare for an attacking vehicle, often unmanned, which is itself destroyed when attacking a target; for example, a kamikaze drone.

Kamikaze aircraft were pilot-guided explosive cruise missiles, either purpose-built or converted from conventional aircraft. Pilots would attempt to crash their aircraft into enemy ships in what was called a "body attack" (tai-atari) in aircraft loaded with bombs, torpedoes or other explosives. About 19 percent of kamikaze attacks were successful. The Japanese considered the goal of damaging or sinking large numbers of Allied ships to be a just reason for suicide attacks. By late 1944, Allied qualitative and quantitative superiority over the Japanese in both aircrew and aircraft meant that kamikaze attacks were more accurate than conventional airstrikes, and often caused more damage. Some kamikazes hit their targets even after their aircraft had been crippled.