Suicide attack

A suicide attack is an attack where the attacker (either one person or a group of people) plans on killing people and/or destroying property while also dying in the process. In a suicide attack, the attacker dies as a result of the attack, for example in an explosion or a crash.

Four coordinated suicide attacks targeted the United States on September 11, 2001 (commonly known as 9/11)

Kamikaze pilots, aged 17, with a puppy

Nowadays, suicide attacks are often done with a vehicle or an explosive material such as a bomb (a suicide bombing), or sometimes both (i.e. a car filled with explosives). If everything goes according to plan, the attacker is killed as soon as their attack is complete (when their vehicle crashes or their bomb detonates).

Suicide attacks are often done in a crowded place so that as many people as possible are killed. They are common in the Middle East and South Asia. Most attacks on Israel, carried out by Hamas or other Palestinian militant groups are suicide bombings. The kamikaze were suicide attacks by Japanese pilots during World War II.