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OGSC/3/ 2002

GLOBAL TERRORISM – THE MILITARY

AND CIVIL COUNTER MEASURES

INTRODUCTION
1. The history of terrorism especially in the last 50 years
suggests that terrorism is omnipresent and hardly any
country has remained immune from it. Violence and terrorism
have always been part and parcel of human society, though
the word terror came into prominence especially during the
French revolution of 1789-94, a period which has been
described as the ‘reign of terror’ in French history.

2. Terrorism is defined by the Oxford advanced learners

dictionary as the “use of violent action in order to achieve
political aims or to force a government to act”. “Terrorists are
people who in the name of what they consider to be lofty
moral causes engage in indiscriminate acts of violence.
Terrorism waged in democracies is the deliberate and
systematic murder, maiming and menacing of the innocent to
inspire fear for political ends”.1

1. Eric Morris and Alan Hoe. Terrorism; Threat and Response. (New York. St
Martin Press 1988) P.113

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3. In recent history the French revolution is said to have

provided ideological basis for justifying acts of terrorism to
pursue political objectives. Grant Wardlaw explains that
terrorism seeks to achieve the desired political ends by either
mobilizing forces sympathetic to the cause of the perpetrators
of acts of terrorism or by employing any method or teaching
to immobilize the forces of the incumbent authority. He states
that:
In order to do this, the insurgents must break the tie
that binds to the incumbent within the society and they
must remove the structural supports that give society its
strength or at least make those supports seem
irrelevant to the critical problems that the mass must
face. This process is one of disorientation, the most
characteristic use of terror.2

4. The aim of terrorism is to create fear and generate

conditions which make the citizens lose confidence in
themselves and in the system so that they can no longer
predict what can happen to them. Wardlaw
explains that the perpetrators of the acts of terrorism try to
disorient the population to prove that government is
incapable of fulfilling its primary obligation to the people, that
of providing them with safety and order. The ultimate aim is
to isolate the individual citizen from his own social setting. In
his words:
2. Grant Wardlaw Political Terrorism: Theory and counter measures
(Cambridge University Press 1982) P.9

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The aim of instilling fear to produce personal

disorientation is of course, to upset the social
structure so that no one any longer knows
what to expect from anyone else. This divides
society into frightened groups of individuals
concerned only with personal survival.
Terrorism destroys the solidarity, cooperation
and inter dependence on which social
functioning is based and substitutes insecurity
and distrust.3

5. Terrorism is a complex phenomenon which does not

easily lead itself to ready made solutions. Terrorism is in its
advanced stage in many countries and the threat is likely to
continue unless a deliberate and sincere attempt is made to
understand the modus operandi and means of combating it is
endorsed.

AIM
6. The aim of this paper is to examine terrorism, suggest
ways of combating it by the military and civil governments
and make recommendations.

3. Ibid P.35

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SCOPE
7. The paper will cover the following:
a. The Al-Qaeda terror network.
Terrorism in some countries.
b. Methods of terrorism.
c. Military counter terrorism.
d. Civil counter measures.
e. Conclusion.
f. Recommendation.

THE AL-QAEDA TERROR NETWORK

8. The worst crime in American history that brought one
of the greatest terrorist network into limelight known as the
AL-Qaeda was the 11 September 2001 episode. Al-Qaeda,
the name of whose ring leader is Osama Bin Laden had its
origin in the long war against the Soviet occupation of
Afghanistan. After Soviet troops invaded the country in 1979,
Muslims flocked to join the local Mujahedin in fighting them.
In Pershawar Pakistan, a group whose spiritual leader was a
Palestinian academic called Abdallah Azzam established a
service organization to provide logistics and religious
instructions to the fighters. The operation came to be known
as Al-Qaeda Al-Sulbah - the “solid base”. Much of its
financing came from Bin Laden.4

4. Time Magazine Asian Edition (Hongkong) November 12 2001 P.37

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9. In 1989 Azzam was killed in an explosion along with

his 2 children on their way to the mosque. By the time of his
death, the group around Al-Qaeda debated on what to do
with the skills and resources that they had acquired. The
decision was taken to keep the organization intact and use it
to fight for a purer form of Islam. The initial target was not
the US but governments of Saudi Arabia and Egypt which
Al-Qaeda claimed were corrupt and too beholden to the US.
It was only after the Gulf war when Osama Bin Laden moved
his headquarter to Sudan that he started to target
Americans.5 Al- Qaeda with its training camps in Afghanistan
used to direct, finance and sub contract Operation to local
networks like Algeria’s Armed Islamic Group(GIA) a terrorist
organization active throughout Europe.

10. Osame Bin Ladens, network of influence reaches

across 5 continents, creating a complex tangle of men,
money and murder. The high command of the Al-Qaeda
network included Osame Bin Laden- Saudi Arabian, Ayman
Al Zawahiri – Egyptian, Abu Zubayah-Saudi Palestinian,
Amir Kattab-Saudi, Khadafy Janjalane – Filipino, Mohd Atef -
Egyptian, Hassan Hattab-Algerian, Djamel Beghal- French
Algerian, Said Bahaji – Moroccan German, Zacarias
Moussaoui – French Moroccan.6

5. Time magazine Asian Edition (Hongkong) November 12, 2001. PP. 37-38
6. Ibid. P 38.
The world wide network of Al-Qaeda can be confirmed from :
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“You know that Al-Qaeda exists from Alegeria to the

Phillipines….. its every where.”7
a conversation secretly taped by the Italian police on 22
March 2002; the speaker was Essid Sami Bin Khemais, a
Tunisian terrorist arrested the next month for terrorist
offences.

TERRORISM IN SOME COUNTRIES

UNITED KINGDOM
11. The issue of terrorism is nevertheless one crime the
British appear not to have found a solution. Since the conflict
between the Catholics and Protestants started about 30
years ago, UK has known little peace. Things got really out
of hand when the Irish Republican Army (IRA) decided to
export terrorism to mainland UK. Public functions have been
bombed with devastating effect in London. Important
historical figures such as Lord Mountbatten have fallen
victim to IRA attacks. The London underground railway
system has suffered terrorist bombings at peak hours. A
convention of the conservative party was rocked by IRA
bombers just before Margaret Thatcher, the then Prime
Minister arrived at the venue. Large sums of money are
budgeted each year to fight terrorism yet the problem
remained unsolved. On every election year, the resolution of
northern Ireland problem remains an election issue.
7. Ibid. P. 35.
ALGERIA

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12. Perhaps no one has the exact figure of persons who

have fallen victim to the terrorist acts by Islamic militants
fighting the military backed government of Algeria in 1997.
Several deaths have occurred by slaughter and bombing in
the terrorist war declared by militants against the
government. Resident foreigners, businessmen as well as
tourists have been targets of sustained terrorist attacks.
Media houses and public facilities were not spared. Inspire
of the sustained efforts of security agents, the militants have
succeeded in making the government appear incompetent.
The militants had for all practical purposes constituted
themselves into may be rival government, issuing directives
or threats on state matters as well as such mundane issues
as how women appear in public. The loss of revenue to
government from terrorism and foreign investment were
incalculable. Life was unsafe in Algiers and the insecurity
spread to the country side where militants routinely attacked
out lying villages and settlements.

SRI LANKA
13. The Tamil tiger rebels have been at war with the
Government of Sri Lanka and indeed occasionally India,
over demand for autonomy for the Ta people. The rebels
have fought the conventional security forces of Sri Lanka
many times in pitched battles around the country. The Tigers
have also assassinated some key politicians, bombed
military installations and embarked on sabotage of strategic
economic locations. The activities of the Tigers were so
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effective that the world perception of Sri Lanka has been

dainted by the atmosphere of insecurity. The losses incurred
in terms of foreign investment and damage to economic
infrastructure was enormous. As at the time of writing, the
Government’s plan to exchange prisoners of war with the
Tamil Tigers failed due to administrative problems.

HOLLAND
14. “On 23 May 1977, the first terrorist co-ordinated double
incident took place in northern Holland. Both incidents
happened simultaneously. An inner city train was seized
whilst enroute from Zwolle to Gromigen. The driver escaped
and raised the alarm leaving 52 hostages. 30 kilometers
away from the hijacked train, a siege began at a school at
Bovensmilde. There were 125 children and 5 teachers.
Both incidents were carried out by south Moluccan terrorists.
They demanded the release of certain south Moluccan
prisoners jailed for other terrorists actions some 2 years
earlier in Holland. They also demanded for a Boeing 747
aircraft to fly them and their hostages from Schipol to Benin
where they hoped to find sanctuary. The terrorist cordoned
both areas and cut off the telephone lines. However, on day
3 all the children were released due to a virus attack. After
14 days, of ineffective renegotiations, 2 women and a man
died of heart attack. At about 0500hrs, the decision to use
force was taken and members of the counter- terrorist
forces, Royal Netherlands Marine Corps, Special Air Unit

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(BEE) were ordered to assault both the train and the school
simultaneously. All hostages were safely released”.8

UNITED STATES
15. On 11 Sep 2001 the day of horror began around 9 am
in New York when 2 hijacked planes crashed into the world
trade centre (WTC) and one into the Pentagon. “The first
plane plowed into the south tower of New York WTC as
thousands of workers were screaming streaming into the
building to begin their day. It opened a huge hole near the
top of the building. Two hours later, the whole building in
which thousands of people worked collapsed on itself on a
huge cloud of smoke and fire. TV stations caught the second
plane plowing into the second of the Twin Towers exploding
in fire ball a few minutes after the first impact. The building
caved in about an hour after the first. Shortly afterwards a
third plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington
throwing people off their feet inside the building and setting
off a massive fire. All government buildings including the
White House and the Capitol and CIA were evacuated.

8. Erice Morris and Alan Hoe Terrorism; Threat and Response (New York St.
Martin Press 1988) P.4
16. The Federal Aviation grounded all planes in US, an
unprecedented step. One of the planes that crashed into the
WTC was American Airlines flight 11 from Boston to Los

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Angeles. “Terrorism against a nation will not stand, Bush

said before leaving Florida for the Capital. Today we’ve had
a national tragedy he said, speaking before school children,
teachers and parents at Emma Booker Elementary School
where he had planned to talk about education. He said, I
have spoken to the vice President to the Governor of New
York, to the director of the FBI and ordered that a full
resources of the Federal government will go to help the
victims and families and to conduct a full scale investigation
to hunt down and to find those folks who committed this
act.”9 Almost one year after the debacle, it was reported by
the BBC World news broadcast of 19 August 2002 that over
3000 people including 340 fire fighters and 23 police officers
lost their lives. The Al-Qaeda was responsible for this act of
terrorism.

METHODS OF TERRORISM

17. “The sensational disappearance of Patricia Hearst in

USA for a motive still uncertain, the execution of the Italian
ex-premier Aldo More by the Red Brigades, the blowing up
of a vessel along passenger train by the south Moluccans in

9. The Independent Bangladesh Publication (Dhaka) September 12, 2001.P.7

Netherlands, the hijacking of a ferry by a mixed group of
Japanese and Palestinian terrorists after an attempt to blow
up an oil refinery on an island near Singapore had failed, the
seizure of the French embassy at the Hague, skyjacking of
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the Karachi bound PIA aircraft by Al Zulfikar and the Tehran

bomb explosion killing Ayatollah Beshesti and 71 others are
not unusual deeds of contemporary terrorists”.10

18. Terrorists almost have two motives in mind-revenge

and policy change. However, suicide bombers seem
motivated more by hatred than by hope for a changed future.
Most of the terrorists acts whether local or international,
criminal or patriotic, selective or blind in character, can be
associated with one or more facets of terrorism.

19. Assassination. This is an euphemism for murder

generally applied to the killing of prominent persons and
symbolic enemies as well as traitors who defect from the
group. There are as many variations to assassination
techniques as there are ways to kill a human being.

20. Bombing. The Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) is

the contemporary terrorists tactic of choice and is used more
frequently than other types of explosives. IEDS are
inexpensive to produce and due to the various detonation

10. Anand VK Lt Col Terrorism and Security (Deep and Deep Publications
New Delhi 1984). P.77
techniques available, pose a low risk to the perpetrator.
Other advantages include their attention getting capacity and
the ability to control casualties through time of detonation
and placement of the device.

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21. Hostage Taking. This usually is an overt seizure of

one of more people with the intent of gaining publicity or
other concessions in return for release of the hostages.
While dramatic, hostage and hostage barricade situations
are risky for the perpetrator when executed in an unfriendly
environment. For example, the seizure of the Iranian
embassy in London in 1981 with the seizure of US embassy
in Tehran in 1979. In the former incident, only one terrorist
survived, in the latter all of the hostage takers survived.

22. Kidnapping. This is similar to hostage taking but has

significant difference. Kidnapping is usually a covert action
wherein the perpetrators may not be known for some period.
The high mark of kidnapping was recorded when in
December 1975 terrorists succeeded in taking the most
influential body- the entire ministerial gathering of the OPEC
as hostages. The PLFP allegedly led by ‘Carlos’ after the
daring capture of all the 32 oil ministers of OPEC countries
during their meeting in Vienna had eleven of them flown to
Algiers.

23. Raids. Armed attacks on facilities are usually

undertaken for one of three purposes, to gain access to
radio or television broadcast capabilities in order to make a
statement, to demonstrate the governments inability to
secure critical facilities, or for logistical purposes (for
example, bank or armory robbery).
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24. Seizure. Similar to the hostage situation, the seizure

usually involves a building or object that has value in the
eyes of the audience. Publicity is the principal objective.
There is some risk to the terrorists because security forces
have time to react and may opt to use force to resolve the
incident since few or no innocent lives are involved.

25. Hijacking. Sometimes employed as a means for

escape, hijacking is normally carried out to produce a
spectacular hostage situation. Although trains, buses and
ships have been hijacked, aircraft’s are the preferred targets
because of their greater mobility and vulnerability.

26. Sabotage. The objective in most sabotage incidents is

to demonstrate now vulnerable society is to the terrorists
actions. Industrialized societies are more vulnerable to
sabotage than less highly developed societies. Utilities,
communications and transport systems are so
interdependent that a serious disruption of any one affects
them all and gains immediate public attention.
27. Now that an idea of terrorism has been evolved and
the various tactics adopted for their (terrorists) ‘cause’ it is
logical to see how terrorists can be handled both militarily
and in a democratic system.

MILITARY COUNTER MEASURES

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28. Terrorism is not new. Armies have tried to strike into

the hearts of their enemies since armed conflict began. The
reason behind this was that the terrified enemy would either
not fight at all or do so poorly because of fear and a sense of
hopelessness. The use of the organs of anti terrorism is an
aggressive and potent tool of government. It principally
revolves around the deployment of armed police units or
military force. The very use of military force is a declaration
of a preparedness to kill. Terrorism is an unconventional
phenomenon which cannot be resolved by traditional anti-
crime measures only.

20. Creation of Counter Terrorist Unit. The creation of a

special unit, dedicated to countering terrorist activities is
without doubt an issue that requires to be addressed by the
military. Regular police and military forces will always have a
role to play in ensuring peace and stability of a nation but
such roles must be ancillary to those of a special unit to be
assigned all counter terrorists operations. The unit should be
manned and equipped to handle all aspects of terrorism
including bombings, hijacking, hostage taking, kidnapping
and assassinations. The training should include expert
handling of weapons and equipment, unarmed combat and
negotiation techniques. Whereas, all aspects of force require
due attention, extra attention needs to be given to its
intelligence network.

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30. Some examples of such forces include; French antiriot

organisation known as Compagnies Republicans de Securite
(CRS). This force is highly mobile and is under the Ministry
of Interior. The CRS is complimented by Garde Mobile a
military force with mainly public duties. In France the anti riot
group is also known as “Intervention Group” (GIGN). It
handles both criminal and political terrorists. Former West
Germany had the Emergency Police and Federal Border
Guard (created in 1972). The Federal Border Guard (GSG-9)
effected the rescue of passengers from a hijacked airliner at
Mogadishu, Somalia in 1977.11

31. The use of force when hostage taking is involved,

constitutes the problem of putting the lives of the hostages at
risk. However, giving in to terrorists demand is not the best
because of political implications. The government that gives
in to terrorist demands will sooner or later discover that it did
not only lose its image but also its firmness of purpose to
serve the people. Special groups must be trained to handle
the situation including the art of negotiation.
11. Brig Gen IA Sabo. Terrorism in Nigeria. Implications for national stability
and security. (National War College Nigeria 1997) PP 54-55

32. Counter Terrorism Operations. The Armed forces,

Police and security agencies of some countries have various
levels of training in counter terrorism. Some aspects are
taught in the military as Counter Revolutionary Warfare
(CRW). However, the fact that act of terrorism is heard
regularly indicate that the level of training currently available

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may not be adequate to curb with the situation. Terrorism is

not a kind of threat that demands mere partial training of
counter measures by security agencies. This has been the
case of other nations which have experienced terrorists
attack. During the 1982 Munich Olympics, the attempt by the
German police to rescue Israeli athletes was a tragic failure.
The Germans have since set up a special anti terrorist unit
the GSG 9. The British also use the Special Air Service
Regiment (SAS) for counter terrorist operations as against
the regular police or military forces.12

33. Establishment of Counter Terrorist Unit. The

establishment of a counter terrorist unit will depend on
threat, economy, and priority in terms of expenditure.
However, a strength of 1200 men is ideal. Units of 300 men
each will be located is 4 different zones to cover the entire
country with its national headquarters centrally located. Each
unit can have administrative and operational elements of 10

12. Ibid
men in each zone. It is ideal that recruitment be carried out
within the military and police force so that professional skills
already received from those services will be built upon with
additional skills required for counter terrorism. The need for
excellent physical and mental fitness cannot be over
emphasized and all men to be in the operational squads
must be within the age bracket of 21-30 years. Furthermore,

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the unit need to be provided with sophisticated weapons and

independent logistics backup.13

CIVIL COUNTER MEASURES

34. Counter terrorism is concerned with identification and

prevention; with protection, with the nullification of the effects
of terrorists outrages; but above all, it is concerned with the
maintenance of law and order. To avoid array, the laws of
the land must be up held. There can be no submission to
pressure no matter what the price. Lebanon is a prince
example of the collapse of a country brought about by
competing factions which threw the country into a state of
civil war.

35. Legal Measures. “In the fight against terrorism,

government needs to strengthen the laws of the land.
Although, most acts of terror attract severe penalty in the law

13. Ibid.
courts, not every act of terror is adequately punished. For
example there is no enacted legislation that defines terrorism
and provides specific measures to counter terrorism in
Nigeria. In a way, terrorism is not known in Nigeria’s statues.
It follows, therefore, that you cannot prosecute a person
before the law court or a tribunal for an offence that is not
known in law. There are provisions of the law that can apply
to any person who commits offence that has similar
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characteristics with terrorism such as murder and illegal

possession or use of explosives. However they are not
designed to cater for terrorists activities as such. For
instance, S.316(2) of the criminal code provides :
If the offender intends to do to the person
killed or to some other person some grievous
bodily harm.

This section may be applied against a terrorist, but it does

not provide specifically for that purpose.

S.316(3) of the code also provides that :

If death is caused by means of an act done in
the prosecution of an unlawful purpose, which
act is of such a nature as to be likely to
endanger human life, for example, planting of
explosives or exposable material like bomb.14

14. Ibid.PP 58-59

Here again, this section does not mention “terror” or
“terrorism”. Therefore, where as it can be effectively used
against a terrorist the criminal has to be referred to by words
other than terrorist”.15

36. It is important to state the position of the law in some

countries. Britain and the USA have enacted laws to provide
specific measures to counter terrorism. For example, the

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suppression of Terrorism Act 1978 crated by the UK.

Furthermore it is necessary to create special legislation to
cover all aspects of terrorism such that potential terrorists
can be adequately deterred and if deterrence fails, can be
fully punished. It is also necessary to ensure that cases
involving terrorist activities are taken before a special
tribunal other than the regular courts. The first hijack at sea
was on 22 January 1961. The Portuguese liner Santa Maria
was seized in the Caribbean by a group of 70 men led by
Captain Henrique Galvao on political ground. At the end of
11 days, one member of the crew was killed and Galvao’s
declared aims were not met. Galvao and 32 others were all
tried in absentia in Lisbon. In a face-saving exercise they
were sentenced to varying terms of long imprisonment; none
of which were implemented. The trial resulted in the
Portuguese government issuing a decree making piracy
(defined as the forcible seizure of a ship or aircraft)

15. Ibid. P 59.

punishable by imprisonment from 16-20 years. This action
by the Portuguese was one of the earliest attempts by
government to stiffen its legislation as a means of eliminating
terrorism.16

37. International Cooperation. Terrorism is a borderless

crime. Terrorists attack airplanes and force them across
territorial airspace. Embassies and high commissions as well
as diplomatic and consular personnel are regular terrorists

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targets. As a result of these factors, terrorist incidents

involve more than one country. On 13 Octber 1977, the
Lufthansa Boeing 737 hijacked from Germany ended up in
Dubai. The PANAM aircraft which crashed in Scotland
belonged to US and the terrorists act involved Libyans.
Furthermore, a nation need to go into bilateral agreements
which will facilitate the extradition of terrorist acts in that
nation to other nations and vice-versa. The recent war
against terror where US dislodged the Al-Qaeda in
Afghanistan by carrying out operations from Pakistan is an
example.

38. National Security Awareness Drive. Terror is

commonly defined using synonyms as agitation, alarm,
anxiety, panic, horror and fear. On close examination, fear
emerges as the common thread in defining all of these

16. Eric Morris and Alan Hoe Terrorism; Threat and Response (St Martins
press New York 1988) PP 2-3
synonyms, thus terror can be labeled as fear. The main
weapon of the terrorist subverts people by frightening them
out to their wits. Terrorists use fear as an effective political
and even religious tool to persuade people to behave one
way or the other. The ignorance of the aims and objectives
of terrorists including their techniques make people including
security forces, fall victim of their plans. A major weapon
against terrorist therefore is an awareness campaign,
explaining what terrorists do, their modus operandi and

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objectives. The success of such a campaign will demystify

the terrorist, expose him for what he actually is and assist
the law abiding citizen to react appropriately in all terrorist
situations. 17

39. Counter Measures for Air Security. The threat of air

terrorism involves hijacking of airplanes and planting of
bombs in them. In recent years, these threats have posed a
serious problem internationally. Discussing air safety
problems, Rodney Wallis18 made some counter measure
suggestions. These include:

a. Thorough and uncompromising screening of staff

of the airport and the crew.

17. Brig Gen IA Sabo. Terrorism in Nigeria; Implications for national stability
and security (National war college Nigeria 1997). P.61
18. Wallis op.cit P.61
b. Passenger/Baggage Reconciliation. This is
an important counter measure to airborne terrorism
because an unaccompanied baggage may contain
some explosives that may blast the plane in the air.
Each baggage must be reconciled against the
passengers and must also travel in the plane. As of
now there is an equipment that can discover
explosives with 100% accuracy. An unaccompanied
suitcase must not be flown on the plane neither should
it be left at the airport.

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c. Use of X-Ray Devices. The use of X-ray

devices to detect weapons carried by passengers and
crew are now common. Efforts are being made to
improve on them so that they can be more effective in
detecting all forms of equipment packed in suitcases
by terrorists.
d. Ramp Security. The operational area of the
airport is the ramp. This area must be protected at all
times. The hijacking of airplanes by terrorists is
possible only when they have access to the ramp.
e. Compliance with International Treaty Obligations.
No country that has signed this treaty is supposed to
co-operate with terrorists who hijack a plane to land in
their territory. Uganda’s overt collusion with hijackers
led to the Israeli invasion of Entebbe airport in July
1976. 19
19. Ibid. P.62.

CONCLUSION
40. Terrorism is a complex phenomenon which does not
easily lead itself to ready-made solutions. Terrorism is in its
advanced stage in many countries and the threat is likely to
continue unless a deliberate and sincere attempt is made to
understand the modus operandi and means of combating it
is endorsed. (Paragraph 5)

41. Osama Bin Laden’s network of influence reaches

across 5 continents, creating a complex tangle of men,

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money and murder. The Italian police had secretly taped the
conversation of a Tunisian terrorism who confirmed that Al-
Qaeda exists from Algeria to the Philippines and that it is
every where. (Paragraph 10)

42. The use of the organs of anti-terrorism is an

aggressive and potent tool of government. It principally
revolves around the deployment of armed police units or
military force (Paragraph 28).

43. The establishment of a counter terrorist Unit of a nation

will depend on threat, economy and priority in terms of
expenditure. However, a strength of 1200 men is ideal with
300 men each located in 4 zones to cover the entire country
and its headquarters centrally located. The unit will be
special in operation and provided with sophisticated
weapons and independent logistics. (Paragraph 33)

44. In the fight against terrorism, government need to

strengthen the laws of the land. Although most acts of terror
attract severe penalty in the law courts, not every act of
terror is adequately punished. (Paragraph 35).

45. Terrorists attack airplanes and force them across

territorial airspace. As a result, their action involves more
than one country. A nation need to go into bilateral
agreements which will facilitate the extradition of terrorist

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acts in that nation to other nations and vice-Versa.

(Paragraph 37).

46. The ignorance of the aim and objections of terrorists

including their techniques make people including security
forces fall victim of their plan. A major weapon against
terrorist therefore is an awareness campaign, explaining
what terrorists do, their modus operandi and objectives.
(Paragraph 38).

47. The threat of air terrorism involves hijacking of

airplanes and planting of bombs in them. This threat has
posed a serious problem internationally. Air safety problems
can be checked by carrying out thorough uncompromising
screening of airport staff, crews and passengers. (Paragraph
39)

RECOMMENDATIONS
48. The following are recommended:

a. A counter terrorist unit should be established to

react to terrorist activities in a nation.

b. Legal provisions should be made specifically for

the dispensation of justice especially in matters relating
to terrorist activities.

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c. Government should go into bilateral and multi-

lateral agreements with other nations for cooperation in
the handling of terrorist incidents.

d. A well articulated national awareness campaign

should be put in place to sensitize the society about all
aspects of terrorism.

DD AHMADU
Chittagong Lt Col
September 2002. Student Officer

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

1. Grant Wardlaw. Political Terrorism, Theory, Tactics

and counter measures (Cambridge) University press 1982.

2. Eric Moris and Alan Hoe. Terrorism, Threat and

Response. (New York) St martin Press 1988.

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3. Bring Gen 1A Sabo. Terrorism in Nigeria; Implications

for national security. (Abuja) National war college 1997.

4. Anand VK Lt col. Terrorism and Security (New Delhi)

Deep and Deep publications 1984.

MAGAZINES / NEWSPAPERS

5. Time magazine. Asian Edition (Hongkong) 12

November 2001.

6. The Independent. Bangladesh Publication (Dhaka) 12

September 2001.

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