Research Information System
International Journal of Intelligence, Security, and Public Affairs, vol.23, no.2, pp.125-138, 2021 (Scopus)
© 2021 Taylor & Francis.The global terrorism database (GTD) shows that 3,207 out of the total 191,464 terror incidents across the world from 1970 to 2018 were targeted at other terrorists and non-state militias. This study investigated why terrorists attack other terrorists. The GTD has three variables on terrorism criteria that indicate the motive of an attack. The criteria include criteria 1: the attack incident was aimed to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal; criteria 2: the attack incident was aimed to coerce, intimidate, or publicize to larger audiences; criteria 3: the attack incident was an action outside international humanitarian law. Obviously, all terror attacks satisfy criteria 3 by default. The risk ratio was deployed on the GTD to evaluate which of the two criteria (criteria 1 and 2) has an association with terror attacks on terrorists. It was discovered that terrorists attack other terrorists when the purpose is to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal (criteria 1). However, when the purpose of an attack is to coerce, intimidate, or publicize to larger audiences (criteria 2), it is very unlikely that such an attack would be targeted at other terrorists. The relevance of these findings in counterterrorism is discussed.