Nonverbal Signs of Terrorists and Sucide Bombers

Aug 19 2009
An Afghan national policeman and a U.S. Army Soldier search a vehicle and its passengers at an inspection checkpoint near Forward Operating Base Joyce, Konar province, Afghanistan on August 11, 2009. Afghan national security forces and U.S. Army Soldiers are working together to provide increased security ahead of the Afghan presidential elections set for August 20. UPI/Andrew Smith/U.S. Army Photo via Newscom


Spec. Edward Zaluski, 31, of Boca Raton, says in an interview and article in the Palm Beach Post, "trying to understand who is friendly to Americans and who isn't is tricky and crucial. The fact that the soldiers must work through interpreters who translate any of four languages — Pashto, Farsi, Arabic, or Dari, also known as Zoroastrian — makes it even trickier."

"Everything in that culture is nuances, undertones, everything is subtle," he says. "Things we don't really think much about, like hand movements and body language. You have to watch everything, every little gesture.

"As military police, that's something we were trained for, to read body language. You have to constantly be on your toes. Try and get inside their heads and understand how they're thinking."


It is important to recognise the nonverbal tells of someone willing to die to kill you. Some of these may be present:

- Intensity in the Eyes.
- Gaze aversion until they reach their destination.
- Sweat on their upper lip and/or forehead.
- Wearing loose fitting, clean clothes.
- Will not walk slow, but will walk as fast as possible without being noticeable.
- Will not be looking around, or if they do it will be somewhat quick nervous glances- looking for authority figures or escape routes.
- Tight lips.
- Wide open folds of the upper and lower eye folds- they will want to take in every detail of their last minutes.
- Will lack animated facial expressions, their facial expression will be consistent which is not normal. Statute.
- Serious lack of gestures, unnatural hand movements- it is possible their hands will be balled up in fists- if one hand is in a pocket and the other is not (and you see other intensity signs) you are in immediate danger- one hand in a pocket is reserved for meandering.

If your job is to man a checkpoint or provide security against these types of people, the best advice I can give you- is to very quickly establish a behavior baseline of the people passing through your checkpoint.

Place them in their respective roles (There will be the inconvenienced, the non supporter, the meek, the strong, the challenger, etc.) and look for subtle clues of deviation for this baseline.

This is what the Secret Service detail who guards the President does- they are looking for the one person in the crowd who is not exhibiting normal behavior. While the Secret Service has a tough job, it is not as tough as your job because you have many more different types of people who you will come into contact with than the Secret Service (when guarding the President in the US).

The second piece of advice I can give to you is learn about body language (and cultural differences) and study people and how they act, gesture, and interact with others. Video tape interactions at your checkpoint and study them, often times after you've seen the same piece of video, something with startlingly jump out at you. Teach the new guy that will back you up about this topic. Dedicate time to the studying of people until it becomes second nature to you. TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS AND DO NOT DISCOUNT EVEN THE SMALLEST THING.◦

Nonverbal Signs of Terrorists and Sucide Bombers