2013/10/17 by C. Christine Fair · 17 citations
Social Sciences · #Biography #Computer science #Database #Law #Militant #Political Conflict and Governance #Political science #Politics #Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East #Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
paper · doi:10.1080/01402390.2013.811647
published in Journal of Strategic Studies 37(2), 259-290 (Taylor & Francis)
openalex publication_date 2013/10/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06
This article uses a novel database of 1,625 posthumously published biographies of members of two Islamist militant organizations (Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM)), all of whom were killed in the course of carrying out militant attacks. In general, each biography provides data on the militant’s birthplace, education, recruitment, and training. The number of observations in this database is a full order of magnitude larger than those of previous databases assembled from militant biographies. While the sample of militants in this database is the product of multiple selection effects, analysis of the database undermines many common myths about Pakistani militants and casts doubt on current policy approaches to mitigating Islamist militancy in Pakistan.