Understanding the Interrelationship Between Global Terrorist Attacks and the Citizen＇s Wellbeing.＂ The Complexity of Terrorism

Terrorism is a global phenomenon that over the last 44 years more than 140,000 terrorist events have been carried out. In the period from 1970-2001, the five countries with the largest number of terrorist attacks were Colombia, Peru, El Salvador, United Kingdom, and India. On the other hand, in the post-2001 context, the five countries with the largest number of terrorist attacks were Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Thailand. One method for measuring in an aggregate way, how many people have suffered under terrorist attacks at national level is to analyze the correlation between some national wellbeing indicators and the number of terrorist attacks. The aim of this study is to analyze empirically the correlation between the global terrorist attacks and the countries wellbeing indicators. Five indicators show a strong relationship with the number of terrorist attacks in the case of the four most attacked countries in the post-2001 context. The authors consider that their findings can support the design of new strategies for preventing terrorist activities taking into account certain socio-economic and political drivers. The authors conclude that as such drivers are socio-complex, so it is necessary to adopt the complex adaptive system （CAS） approach to provide a new way of thinking about terrorism.

Epidemio-Clinical Profile of Psychotrauma in Military Victims of Terrorists Attacks in Benin in December 2021

Introduction: In December 2021, Beninese soldiers were victims of armed terrorist attacks. This study aims to determine the psychological impact of the events experienced on the victims in order to better prevent post-traumatic stress disorder. Materials and methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted from December 13 to 14, 2021, i.e. 12 days after the oldest event and 4 days after the most recent. The experience of the event was assessed with the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory and the Peritraumatic Dissociation Experiences Questionnaire. Symptoms experienced in the hours and days after the event were assessed with the Revised Event Impact Scale. Results: 36 soldiers were included out of the 38 survivors, i.e. 94.73%. They were 51.43% victims of the night assault, 37.14% of the ambush on patrol and 11.43% of the explosion of vehicle on mine, all male. The average age was 31 years with extremes of 25 and 49 years. The 25 - 30 year olds predominated, 52.78%. 100% of soldiers had significant peritraumatic dissociation, of which 94.44% also had significant peritraumatic distress. 100% of the soldiers had manifestations of intrusion, 89% of manifestations of avoidance and 83% of manifestations of hyperexcitation. 88.89% had an index for acute stress including 100% of victims of night assault and vehicle explosion on mine. Conclusion: This study shows a high prevalence of peritraumatic reactions, recognized factors favoring post-traumatic stress disorder, and the interest of their evaluation for medical and psychological help adapted to the victims.

An overview of forensic operations performed following the terrorist attacks on November 13,2015,in Paris

On the evening of November 13,2015,the city of Paris and its surroundings was hit by a series of attacks committed by terrorist groups,using firearms and explosives.The final toll was 140 people deceased(130 victims and 10 terrorists or their relatives)and more than 413 injured,making these attacks the worst mass killings ever recorded in Paris in peacetime.This article presents the forensic operations carried out at the Medicolegal Institute of Paris(MLIP)following these attacks.A total of 68 autopsies of bodies or body fragments and 83 external examinations were performed within 7 days,and the overall forensic operations(including formal identification of the latest victims)were completed 10 days after the attacks.Over this period,156 body presentations(some bodies were presented several times)were provided to families or relatives.Regarding the 130 civilian casualties,129 died from firearm wounds and one died from blast injuries after an explosion.Of the 10 terrorists or their relatives who were killed,eight died from suicide bombing,one was shot by police and one died from crush injuries due to partial collapse of a building following the police raid against a terrorist’s hideout after the attacks.All mass shootings were perpetrated with AK-47 or Zastava M70 assault rifles using 7.62mm39mm cartridges.In the case of ballistic injuries,death was most often obviously caused by craniocerebral injuries,extensive organ lacerations and/or massive haemorrhage.Among the terrorists killed by bombing,the lesion patterns were body transection,multiple amputations,extreme organ lacerations and the presence of foreign bodies owing to the shrapnel load(steel nuts,glass fragments)or the explosive charge fastening system of the devices.This discussion highlights the particular difficulties of interpretation encountered within the framework of ballistic injuries,a conclusion that should lead to a modest and realistic approach in these exceptional situations where forensic operations involve a very large number of victims in a constrained time.

Forensic odontology identification response to terrorist attacks in Paris November 2015

The terrorist attacks of November 2015 led to the immediate death of 129 victims admitted to the Legal and Forensic Medicine Institute of Paris,including 41 unidentified.During the Disaster Victim Identification(DVI)operations,22 bodies were examined by the postmortem(PM)dental team with the aim of establishing PM odontograms.At the same time,the dental expert in the antemortem(AM)unit collected a large number of dental files,progressively filtered as the list of missing persons became reduced.Feedback from these events has highlighted the difficulties of implementing the DVI chain principles in a legal framework,published the day before the attacks,and also the technical complexity of collecting dental data on a week end of terror.The return on experience after this event has represented a paradigm shift on previous methods of DVI in Paris and even more in France.Indeed,the victim identification procedure was redesigned,integrating new technical means such as a CT scan directly on spot,allowing the extraction of maxillofacial data as soon as possible in order to support the PM dental examination team.Moreover,the National Dental Council proceeded to the overall remodeling of the dental identification unit,which is composed of trained members,from local,regional and national aspects.These forensic experts are dedicated,at the request of the legal authorities,to DVI operations and deployed throughout the country capable of managing AM and PM data.This unit aims also to share experiences and awarenessraising among health professionals and investigators in order to optimize a better submission of AM elements and also to enhance the major interest of odontology as a primary identifier in disaster.

Modeling heterogeneous behaviors with different strategies in a terrorist attack

Existing simulations of terrorist attacks do not consider individual variations.To overcome this lim-itation,we propose a framework to model heterogeneous behavior of individuals during terrorist attacks.We constructed an emotional model that integrated personality and visual perception for pedestrians.The emotional model was then integrated with pedestrian relationship networks to establish a decision-making model that sup-ported pedestrians’altruistic behaviors.A mapping model has been developed to correlate antisocial personality traits with attack strategies employed by terrorists.Experiments demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can generate practical heterogeneous behaviors that align with existing psychological research findings.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Mediated by Exposure Level in French Civil Firefighters Following a Terrorist Attack: Some Hypotheses towards a Structural Model

To date, few studies have investigated the impact of organizational factors such as organizational status or the rank of firefighters on the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following a terrorist attack. To fill this gap in the scientific literature, this field study aimed to investigate the consequences of terrorist attacks on firefighters’ psychological health in terms of PTSD. Data were collected in France following two terrorist attacks. PTSD was assessed with the PCL-S (DSM-IV) 3 to 6 months after the events. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) with existing PTSD models were inconclusive, leading us to find a two-factor model via an exploratory factor analysis (EFA). A cluster analysis showed different symptom profiles that were influenced by the exposure level. Elements for a structural model explaining PTSD symptoms are proposed and suggest a central role of the exposure level. Firefighters I/II represented an at-risk sub-population, suggesting that PTSD was mainly experienced among those who performed tasks not common to their occupation.

Identifying terrorist attack victims

The terrorist attacks that occurred in France in 2015 and 2016,which had many victims,proved that it is essential to identify victims following the methodology developed by International Criminal Police Organization(INTERPOL)for such events.Initially designed for natural disasters,this approach must be strictly respected should a terrorist attack occur.This includes the specific collection of bodies and body parts,as well as the setup of an antemortem unit,postmortem unit,and Identification Commission.This commission is made up of specialists and will make decisions on the basis of primary identifying elements(fingerprints,DNA,dental records)and/or secondary identifying elements(other distinctive and particularly discriminating signs).A multidisciplinary team,combining specifically trained police officers and scientists,must provide a reliable and consolidated list of deceased people based on biometric elements cross checked with elements from the investigations.Any list of names generated on another basis should be excluded.Identification of the deceased by relatives(visual recognition),even if the bodies do not appear mutilated and/or decayed,should be avoided to avert erroneous death announcements,body presentations,or even burials or cremations.Similarly,identifying victims only on the basis of their personal effects(such as an identity card)must be absolutely avoided.All bodies,even those whose identities seem obvious to the first responders or to the relatives,must be registered as“X”during the crime scene search and properly identified according to the INTERPOL protocol.The same protocol should be applied to unconscious injured people.Considering the expectations of our modern society for rapid information circulation and quick responses from the authorities,the French team has made a few adjustments to speed up the identification process without compromising its integrity.Validated and supported by both the French judicial and administrative authorities in the light of the experience of the November 2015 attacks in Paris,this innovative method proved its effectiveness during the Nice attack in July 2016.It can only be successful in a context where all the individuals involved in the crisis,up to the highest authorities,understand it,support it,and relay it in the best interest of the victims’families.

Agent-based modeling of emergency evacuation in a railway station square under sarin terrorist attack

Evacuation modeling is a promising measure to support decision making in scenarios such as flooding,explosion,terrorist attack and other emergency incidents.Given the special attention to the terrorist attack,we build up an agent-based evacuation model in a railway station square under sarin terrorist attack to analyze such incident.Sarin dispersion process is described by Gaussian puff model.Due to sarin’s special properties of being colorless and odorless,we focus more on the modeling of agents’perceiving and reasoning process and use a Belief,Desire,Intention(BDI)architecture to solve the problem.Another contribution of our work is that we put forward a path planning algorithm which not only take distance but also comfort and threat factors into consideration.A series of simulation experiments demonstrate the ability of the proposed model and examine some crucial factors in sarin terrorist attack evacuation.Though far from perfect,the proposed model could serve to support decision making.

Belgium experience in disaster victim identification applied in handling terrorist attack at Brussels Airport 2016

The Belgian disaster victim identification(DVI)team is involved in many investigations in our country.Indeed,this specialized team of the federal police oversees searching for and investigating criminally buried dead bodies,identification of unknown putrefied corpses,and more.The Belgian DVI team also assists with the identification of victims of mass disasters(natural,accidental,and mass murders).In this article,we consider the contributions of different teams(forensic pathology,anthropology,and odontology,federal police,and crime scene investigation)both on the scene of the attack at the Brussels National Airport(Zaventem)and in the laboratory work(autopsies,sample studies).