Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations hosts an interactive panel discussion on “the allure of female suicide bombers”

In honour of the International women’s day, the permanent mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations along with several other organizations including the Engr. Aja Eze foundation hosted an interactive panel discussion on female suicide bombers today. The Panel consisted of renowned professors, authors, analysts, scholars and activists from all over the world.

During his opening remarks, Ambassador Kohona recalled the devastating effect of the LTTE suicide bombers during the country’s 27 year conflict. He further elaborated on the monumental progress achieved by the government of Sri Lanka in rehabilitating over 11,000 former combatants (2240 women) and 560 child soldiers.

Other inventions, more noticeably by Ms. Farhana Qazi (a former CIA official) shed light on the social and religious circumstances that have prompted a surge in female suicide bombers in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Responding to a question, Ambassador Kohona stated that the specific ground realities and cultural aspects of conflict areas have to be taken into consideration.   He added that outsider involvement based on ideological perceptions in dealing with terrorism will only further exacerbate problems such as the growing threat of female suicide bombers.