NPR: Ill, Disabled Account for Many Afghan Suicide Attacks

Ill, Disabled Account for Many Afghan Suicide Attacks

It's a shake-your-head statistic. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reported on Morning Edition that a doctor's work shows most Afghan suicide bombers are sick, physically disabled or mentally ill.

Afghan security officials say that most of the bombers are foreigners. But a recent United Nations report says bombers caught before they could attack were overwhelmingly Afghan. Regardless of their nationalities, 80 percent of bombers are disabled or sick, says Dr. Yusef Yadgari, a pathologist who examines their remains.

"They are probably resentful because in Afghan society they are outcasts," Yadgari says. "They hold a grudge because many of them can't get a job. So, to make money for their families, they agree to become suicide bombers."

Interestingly, Afghan suicide bombers are "not celebrated" in the way that their counterparts elsewhere often are, says Christine Fair, co-author of the U.N. report. "Many parents don't even seem to know that their child or their relative blew themselves up in this act," she said.

4:47 PM ET | 10-15-2007 | permalink

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