Shahidka

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Shahidka (Russian language feminine gender derivation from shahid), sometimes called "Black Widow", is a term for a Chechen female suicide bombers, who made themselves known at the Moscow theater hostage crisis of October 2002. The commander Shamil Basayev had referred to the shahidkas as a part of subunit of his suicide bombers called the "Gardens of the Righteous" (Riyad-us Saliheen).

The term of "Black Widows" probably originates from the fact that many of these women are widows of men killed by the Russian forces in Chechnya (the toxic connotation of black widow spider is intended). In 2003, the Russian journalist Yulia Yuzik coined the phrase "Brides of Allah" ("Невесты Аллаха") when she described the process by which Chechen women were recruited by Basayev and his associates; the phrase was also used again after the Beslan attack, as the title of an installment of the Russian NTV programme Top Secret (Совершенно секретно).

[edit] References

• Yuzik, Yulia, "Невесты Аллаха. Лица и судьбы всех женщин-шахидок, взорвавшихся в России" 2003, Ультра Культура, ISBN 5-98042-034-7

[edit] External links

• The women with death at their fingertips - martyrs or victims?. The Scotsman, September 5, 2004. Last accessed August 2, 2006.
• Women’s question. Chechen Times, March 29, 2004. Last accessed August 2, 2006.
• Nord-Ost Anniversary Recalls Ascent Of Female Suicide Bomber. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty feature article (27/10/2006). Last accessed 30/10/2006.