The Suicide Club

Christopher Hazou September 9, 2009 Velupillai Prabhakaran died in May, but the Tamil Tiger leader survives through his most famous innovation: the suicide bomb.

On May 18, cell phones across Sri Lanka flashed with a text message that provoked street celebrations in the capital: Velupillai Prabhakaran had been killed by government forces.

Head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Prabhakaran had acquired a reputation as a ruthless and resourceful guerrilla commander. Much of that notoriety was due to the suicide-bombing techniques he pioneered in his twenty-six-year quest for an independent Tamil state. His “Black Tiger” cadre—whose members came from mostly Hindu and Christian backgrounds—was the first to use suicide vests, which allowed access to difficult-to-reach targets (including underwater bombings to …

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Winter

ISSUE 42 Winter 2011

online content:

also in this issue:

  • Getting Plowed

    by Selena Ross In this exclusive investigative report from Montreal, Maisonneuve exposes the bid-rigging, violence and sabotage at the heart of an unlikely racket: snow removal.
  • In the House of the Lord

    by Andrea Bennett The Jackson Avenue Housing Co-operative and the religious battle raging in one of Canada's poorest neighbourhoods.
  • After Jack

    by Nick Taylor-Vaisey Last May, Jack Layton led the NDP to the greatest victory in party history. Now that he's gone, will the party be able to maintain its momentum?
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