Martyrdom operation

The term martyrdom operation is how Al-Qaida describes "suicide bombing" and similar attacks that result in the death of the operative. It was used on tapes (in Arabic) that were released the week of the second anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The term literally describes a military operation in which the attacker is killed as a by-product of their own action, the term martyr having religious connotations in both Christianity and Islam.

The contrasting term "homicide bombing" is used by the G. W. Bush administration to describe the same actions.


 * Brian Whitaker and Agencies, Al-Qaida Issues a Chilling Warning, The Guardian, September 8, 2003.