自殺式襲擊往往比其他恐怖襲擊更加致命也更具有破壞性(英語:List of terrorist incidents),[4]因為這種襲擊方式能讓實施者隱藏襲擊武器,並在最終引爆才會被人發現,而且自殺式襲擊並不依賴遠程遙控、延遲爆炸、制定逃跑計劃或呼叫救援這些方式。[4]在1981年至2006年期間,自殺式襲擊僅佔全世界所有恐怖襲擊的4%,但造成的死亡人數卻佔所有與恐怖主義有關的死亡人數的32% (14599人)。而90%的自殺式襲擊發生在阿富汗、伊拉克、以色列、巴勒斯坦領土、巴基斯坦和斯里蘭卡。[5]截至2015年,約四分之三的自殺式襲擊都發生在阿富汗、巴基斯坦和伊拉克這三個國家。[6]
Hoffman, Bruce. The Logic of Suicide Terrorism. The Atlantic. June 2003 [4 October 2015]. (原始內容存檔於2022-06-21). According to data from the Rand Corporation's chronology of international terrorism incidents, suicide attacks on average kill four times as many people as other terrorist acts.
Hassan, Riaz. What Motivates the Suicide Bombers?. YaleGlobal. Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. September 3, 2009 [November 2, 2012]. (原始內容存檔於October 4, 2013).
(Click "Search Database", then under "filter by", click "location". Afghanistan (1059) Iraq (1938) and Pakistan (490) have a total 3487 attacks out of a total of 4620 worldwide.)Year: 1982–2015. Group. Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism Suicide Attack Database. [2015-11-20]. (原始內容存檔於2016-01-24).
de la Corte Ibáñez, Luis. The Social Psychology of Suicide Terrorism. ict.org.il. International Institute for Counter Terrorism. 19 October 2014 [22 December 2015]. (原始內容存檔於2022-01-21). Terrorism involves the use of force or violence in order to instill fear as a means of coercing individuals or groups to change their political or social positions which means that social influence is the ultimate goal of terrorism. Obviously we could say the same about suicide terrorism. [...] An alternative perspective views terrorism, including suicide terrorism, as tool: a means to an end and a tactic of warfare that anyone could use.
For example, 90% of attacks in Iraq prior to the civil war (starting in 2003) aimed at forcing out occupying forces. Pape's tabulation of suicide attacks runs from 1980 to early 2004 in Dying to Win and to 2009 in Cutting the Fuse.
Definition given by Kofi Annan, March 2005 in the UN General Assembly, while Secretary General of the UN.Story: UN reform. United Nations. [2010-02-24]. (原始內容存檔於2007-04-27).
Yoram Schweitzer. Suicide Terrorism: Development and Characteristics. International Institute for Counter-Terrorism. April 21, 2000 [March 22, 2015]. (原始內容存檔於2013-05-27). ... a very specific kind of attack. It does not deal with the very high-risk terror operations that leave only little chance of survival to their perpetrators. Such attacks as the Japanese Red Army's (JRA) attack at Lod airport in 1972, Abu Nidal's attack on a synagogue in Istanbul in 1986 and the PFLP-GC hand-glider attack on an army barracks in Kiryat Shmona in 1987 fall outside the scope of this paper. Also excluded were the self-inflicted deaths of members of terrorist organization, ... a politically motivated violent attack perpetrated by a self-aware individual (or individuals) who actively and purposely causes his own death through blowing himself up along with his chosen target. ... the perpetrator's ensured death is a precondition for the success of his mission."
Dodd, Henry. A short history of suicide bombing. Action on Armed Violence. 23 Aug 2013 [6 October 2015]. (原始內容存檔於2020-09-07). First of all let's be clear what kind of attacks we are talking about. Suicide bombings are those that involve the deliberate death of the perpetrator. We’re not just talking about a reckless charge in battle. The focus is on those attacks where the perpetrator functions as a sophisticated guidance system for the weapon. They function as part human and part weapon. In this way they are suicide attacks rather than suicidal attacks.