terrorist group

1. referred to in: act of terrorism, terrorism, terrorist act - the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear
   is a type of: political movement - a group of people working together to achieve a political goal
   specific instances:

   • abu hafs al-masri brigades - a terrorist group that has worked with Al Qaeda; claimed responsibility for attacks in Iraq and Turkey
   • abu sayyaf, bearer of the sword - a small gang of terrorist thugs claiming to seek a separate Islamic state for the Muslim minority in the Philippines; uses bombing and assassination and extortion and kidnapping
   • aksa martyrs brigades, al-aksa martyrs brigades, martyrs of al-aqsa - a militant offshoot of al-Fatah that is the newest and strongest and best equipped faction active in the West Bank; responsible for many deadly attacks in Israel in 2002
   • abb, alex boncayao brigade, revolutionary proletarian army, rpa-abb - an urban hit squad and guerrilla group of the Communist Party in the Philippines; formed in the 1980s
   • al-asifa, al-fatah, fatah - a Palestinian political and military organization founded by Yasser Arafat in 1958 to work toward the creation of a Palestinian state; during the 1960s and 1970s trained terrorist and insurgent groups
   • al-gama'a al-islamiyya, islamic group - a terrorist organization of militant Islamists organized into tiny cells of extreme fundamentalists; emerged during the 1970s mainly in Egyptian jails
   • aiai, al itihaad al islamiya, al-itihaad al-islamiya, islamic unity - a fundamentalist Islamic group in Somalia who initially did fundraising for al-Qaeda; responsible for ambushing United States Army Rangers and for terrorist bombings in Ethiopia; believed to have branches in several countries
   • al-jihad, egyptian islamic jihad, islamic jihad, vanguards of conquest - an Islamic extremist group active since the late 1970s; seeks to overthrow the Egyptian government and replace it with an Islamic state; works in small underground cells
   • al-ma'unah - a radical insurgent Islamist group consisting of disaffected middle-class professionals in Malaysia who want to overthrow the government by violent means and set up an Islamic state
   • al-muhajiroun - a hard-line extremist Islamic group in Great Britain who support bin Laden and other terrorist groups
   • al nathir - a Palestinian terrorist organization formed in 2002 and linked to Fatah movement of Yasser Arafat
   • al qaeda, al qaida, al-qa'ida, al-qaeda, al-qaida, base, qaeda - a terrorist network intensely opposed to the United States that dispenses money and logistical support and training to a wide variety of radical Islamic terrorist groups; has cells in more than 50 countries
   • al-rashid trust - a terrorist group organized in 1996 after the Taliban took over Afghanistan and part of Osama bin Laden's international system; provides financial support for the Taliban and al-Qaeda and Jaish-i-Mohammed and assists Muslim militants around the world; established a network of madrasas and mosques in Afghanistan
   • al sunna wal jamma, followers of the prophet - a resurgent Islamic fundamentalist organization based in Nigeria that is thought to be planning terrorist attacks
   • al tawhid, al-tawhid, divine unity - an Islamic terrorist cell that originated in Jordan but operates in Germany; goal is to attack Europe and Russia with chemical weapons
   • al-ummah - a terrorist group formed in India in 1992; is believed to be responsible for bombings in southern India in 1998
   • ansar al islam, ansar al-islam, supporters of islam - a radical Islamic group of terrorists in the Iraqi part of Kurdistan who oppose an independent secular nation as advocated by the United States; some members fought with the Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in Afghanistan; said to receive financial support from Saddam Hussein
   • armata corsa, corsican army - a terrorist organization founded in 1999 to oppose the link between nationalists and the Corsican mafia
   • armed islamic group, gia - a terrorist organization of Islamic extremists whose violent activities began in 1992; aims to overthrow the secular Algerian regime and replace it with an Islamic state
   • 3rd october organization, armenian secret army for the liberation of armenia, asala, orly group - a militant Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization formed in 1975 to force Turkey to acknowledge killing more than a million Armenians and forcibly removing them from border areas in 1915; wants Turkey to pay reparations and cede territory to Armenia
   • alir, army for the liberation of rwanda, far, former armed forces, interahamwe - a terrorist organization that seeks to overthrow the government dominated by Tutsi and to institute Hutu control again
   • asbat al-ansar, band of partisans - an extremist Palestinian Sunni group active in Lebanon in the early 1990s that advocates Salafism; responsible for murders and bombings; seeks to overthrow the Lebanese government and control Palestinian refugee camps; funded by al-Qaeda
   • aum, aum shinrikyo, supreme truth - a terrorist organization whose goal is to take over Japan and then the world; based on a religion founded in 1987 that combines elements of Buddhism with Christianity
   • baader meinhof gang, baader-meinhof gang - a radical left-wing revolutionary terrorist group active in Germany from 1968 until 1977
   • basque fatherland and liberty, basque homeland and freedom, eta, euskadi ta askatasuna - a terrorist organization organized in 1959 by student activists who were dissatisfied with the moderate nationalism of the traditional Basque party; want to create an independent homeland in Spain's western Pyrenees
   • black september movement - a former Palestinian terrorist organization (now merged with Fatah Revolutionary Council) that assassinated the Prime Minister of Jordan and during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich killed 11 Israeli athletes
   • chukaku-ha - an ultra-leftist militant group founded in 1957 from the breakup of the Japanese Communist Party; includes a covert action wing
   • cira, continuity army council, continuity irish republican army - a terrorist organization formed in Ireland in 1994 as a clandestine armed wing of Sinn Fein
   • democratic front for the liberation of palestine, dflp, pdflp, popular democratic front for the liberation of palestine - a Marxist-Leninist group that believes Palestinian goals can only be achieved by revolutionary change
   • east turkestan islamic movement, east turkistan islamic movement - a group of Uighur Muslims fighting Chinese control of Xinjiang; declared by China in 2001 to be terrorists although there is a long history of cycles of insurgency and repression
   • abu nidal organization, ano, arab revolutionary brigades, black september, fatah revolutionary council, fatah-rc, revolutionary organization of socialist muslims - a Palestinian international terrorist organization that split from the PLO in 1974; has conducted terrorist attacks in 20 countries
   • fatah tanzim, tanzim - a terrorist group organized by Yasser Arafat in 1995 as the armed wing of al-Fatah; serves a dual function of violent confrontation with Israel and serves as Arafat's unofficial militia to prevent rival Islamists from usurping leadership
   • first of october antifascist resistance group, grapo - an armed wing of the (illegal) Communist Party of Spain; seeks to overthrow the Spanish government and replace it with a Marxist-Leninist regime
   • force 17 - formed in 1972 as a personal security force for Arafat and other PLO leaders; became one of PLO's elite units; has built an extensive infrastructure of terrorist cells and weapon depots in Europe while attacking Israeli targets
   • forces of umar al-mukhtar, umar al-mukhtar forces - a little known Palestinian group responsible for bombings and for killing Israelis; seeks to defeat Israel and liberate southern Lebanon, Palestine, and Golan Heights
   • hamas, islamic resistance movement - a militant Islamic fundamentalist political movement that opposes peace with Israel and uses terrorism as a weapon; seeks to create an Islamic state in place of Israel; is opposed to the PLO and has become a leading perpetrator of terrorist activity in Israel; pioneered suicide bombing
   • harakat ul-jihad-i-islami, harkat-ul-jihad-e-islami, huji - an extremist militant group in Pakistan occupied Kashmir that seeks an Islamic government and that has had close links and fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan
   • al faran, harkat ul-ansar, harkat ul-mujahedeen, harkat-ul-mujahidin, hua, hum, movement of holy warriors - an Islamic fundamentalist group in Pakistan that fought the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s; now operates as a terrorist organization primarily in Kashmir and seeks Kashmir's accession by Pakistan
   • hezbollah, hizballah, hizbollah, hizbullah, islamic jihad, islamic jihad for the liberation of palestine, lebanese hizballah, organization of the oppressed on earth, party of god, revolutionary justice organization - a Shiite terrorist organization with strong ties to Iran; seeks to create an Iranian fundamentalist Islamic state in Lebanon; car bombs are the signature weapon
   • freedom party, hizb ut-tahrir - the most popular and feared Islamic extremist group in central Asia; advocates `pure' Islam and the creation of a worldwide Islamic state
   • international islamic front for jihad against jews and crusaders - a terrorist group organized by Osama bin Laden in 1998 that provided an umbrella organization for al-Qaeda and other militant groups in Egypt and Algeria and Pakistan and Bangladesh
   • catholic reaction force, inla, irish national liberation army, people's liberation army, people's republican army - a radical terrorist group dedicated to the removal of British forces from Northern Ireland and the unification of Ireland
   • ira, irish republican army, provisional ira, provisional irish republican army, provos - a militant organization of Irish nationalists who used terrorism and guerilla warfare in an effort to drive British forces from Northern Ireland and achieve a united independent Ireland
   • aden-abyan islamic army, iaa, islamic army of aden, islamic army of aden-abyan - Yemen-based terrorist group that supports al-Qaeda's goals; seeks to overthrow the Yemeni government and eliminate United States interests; responsible for bombings and kidnappings and killing western tourists in Yemen
   • ibda-c, islamic great eastern raiders-front - a Turkish terrorist organization that claimed responsibility for bombing a British consulate and bank in Istanbul; a violent opponent of Turkey's secular government and its ties to the European Union and NATO
   • imu, islamic group of uzbekistan, islamic party of turkestan - a terrorist group of Islamic militants formed in 1996; opposes Uzbekistan's secular regime and wants to establish an Islamic state in central Asia; is a conduit for drugs from Afghanistan to central Asian countries
   • army of muhammad, jaish-e-muhammad, jaish-i-mohammed, jem - a terrorist organization founded in 2000; a militant Islamic group active in Kashmir and closely aligned with al-Rashid Trust; seeks to secure release of imprisoned fellow militants by kidnappings
   • fuqra, jamaat ul-fuqra, tanzimul fuqra - an Islamic terrorist group organized in the 1980s; seeks to purify Islam through violence; the cells in North America and the Caribbean insulate themselves from Western culture and will even attack other Muslims who they regard as heretics
   • anti-imperialist international brigade, japanese red army, jra - a terrorist group organized in 1970 to overthrow the Japanese government and monarchy and to foment world revolution; is said to have close ties with Palestinian terrorists
   • jayshullah - an indigenous Islamic terrorist group in Azerbaijan that attempted to bomb the United States embassy in 1999
   • islamic community, islamic group, jemaah islamiyah, ji, malaysia militant group, malaysian mujahidin group - a clandestine group of southeast Asian terrorists organized in 1993 and trained by al-Qaeda; supports militant Muslims in Indonesia and the Philippines and has cells in Singapore and Malaysia and Indonesia
   • jerusalem warriors - ethnic Turkish Sunni terrorists who are linked with the Turkish Hizballah; killed a United States Air Force sergeant in 1991
   • jund-ul-islam, soldiers of god - an Islamic extremist group of Kurds who oppose secular control with bombings and assassinations; believed to have ties with al-Qaeda
   • kach, kahane chai - a terrorist organization founded for Jewish defense; fights antisemitism and hopes to restore the biblical state of Israel
   • association of islamic groups and communities, caliphate state, kaplan group - a Turkish terrorist group of fundamentalist Muslims with ties to al-Qaeda that operates in Germany; seeks the violent overthrow of the Turkish government and the establishment of an Islamic nation modeled on Iran
   • communist party of kampuchea, khmer rouge, kr, party of democratic kampuchea - a communist organization formed in Cambodia in 1970; became a terrorist organization in 1975 when it captured Phnom Penh and created a government that killed an estimated three million people; was defeated by Vietnamese troops but remained active until 1999
   • kkk, klan, ku klux klan - a secret society of white Southerners in the United States; was formed in the 19th century to resist the emancipation of slaves; used terrorist tactics to suppress Black people
   • kurdistan labor pary, kurdistan workers party, partiya karkeran kurdistan, ppk - a Marxist-Leninist terrorist group of Kurds trying to establish an independent Kurdish state in eastern Turkey
   • lashkar-e-jhangvi - a Sunni Muslim extremist group in Pakistan that collaborates with al-Qaeda; the armed wing of Sipah-e-Sahaba
   • al qanoon, lashkar-e-omar - a terrorist organization formed in Pakistan in 2002 as a coalition of extremist Islamic militant groups including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jaish-e-Muhammad and elements of al-Qaeda
   • army of the pure, army of the righteous, lashkar-e-taiba, lashkar-e-tayyiba, lashkar-e-toiba, let - a brutal terrorist group active in Kashmir; fights against India with the goal of restoring Islamic rule of India
   • holy war warriors, laskar jihad - a paramilitary terrorist organization of militant Muslims in Indonesia; wages a jihad against Christians in Indonesia; subscribes to the Wahhabi creed of Islam
   • lautaro faction of the united popular action movement, lautaro popular rebel forces, lautaro youth movement - a violent terrorist group organized in the 1980s and advocating the overthrow of the Chilean military government; leaders are mainly criminals or impoverished youths
   • liberation tigers of tamil eelam, ltte, tamil tigers, tigers, world tamil association, world tamil movement - a terrorist organization in Sri Lanka that began in 1970 as a student protest over the limited university access for Tamil students; currently seeks to establish an independent Tamil state called Eelam; relies on guerilla strategy including terrorist tactics that target key government and military personnel
   • al-jama'a al-islamiyyah al-muqatilah bi-libya, fig, libyan fighting group, libyan islamic fighting group, libyan islamic group - a Libyan terrorist group organized in 1995 and aligned with al-Qaeda; seeks to radicalize the Libyan government; attempted to assassinate Qaddafi
   • lord's resistance army - a quasi-religious rebel group in Uganda that terrorized and raped women and kidnapped children who were forced to serve in the army
   • loyalist volunteer force - a terrorist group formed in 1996 in Northern Ireland; seeks to prevent the peace process; murders Catholics and any Protestant leaders who favor peace
   • mak, maktab al-khidmat - a terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden in the 1980s to provide money and recruit fighters around the world; enlisted and transported thousands of men to Afghanistan to fight the Russians; a split in the group led bin Laden and the extremist faction of MAK to form al-Qaeda
   • manuel rodriquez patriotic front - a terrorist group formed in 1983 as the armed wing of the Chilean Communist Party
   • moranzanist patriotic front - a terrorist group of radical leftists formed in the late 1980s; seeks to prevent the United States from intervening in Honduran economic and political affairs
   • moro islamic liberation front - a terrorist group in the southern Philippines formed in 1977 to establish an independent Islamic state for the Moros; have clashed with troops at United States bases
   • mujahedeen kompak - a militant Islamic militia that was formed in 2005 by hardliners who split from Jemaah Islamiyah
   • mek, mko, mujahidin-e khalq organization, people's mujahidin of iran - a terrorist organization formed in the 1960s by children of Iranian merchants; sought to counter the Shah of Iran's pro-western policies of modernization and opposition to communism; following a philosophy that mixes Marxism and Islam it now attacks the Islamic fundamentalists who deposed the Shah
   • cnpz, eln, national liberation army, nestor paz zamora commission - a terrorist organization in Bolivia that acts as an umbrella for numerous small indigenous subversive groups; a revival of a group with Marxist-Leninist ideologies originally established by Che Guevara in the 1960s
   • eln, national liberation army - a Marxist terrorist group formed in 1963 by Colombian intellectuals who were inspired by the Cuban Revolution; responsible for a campaign of mass kidnappings and resistance to the government's efforts to stop the drug trade
   • flnc, national liberation front of corsica - a terrorist group formed in 1976 to work for Corsican independence; attacks on Corsica are aimed at sabotaging public infrastructure and symbols of colonialism
   • new people's army, npa - a terrorist organization that is the militant wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines; a Maoist organization formed to overthrow the government; uses hit squads called Sparrow Units; opposes United States military presence in the Philippines
   • orange group, ov - a terrorist group of Protestants who oppose any political settlement with Irish nationalists; a paramilitary group that attacks Catholic interests in Northern Ireland
   • harakat al-jihad al-islami al-filastini, palestine islamic jihad, palestinian islamic jihad, pij - a militant Palestinian terrorist group created in 1979 and committed to the creation of an Islamic state in Palestine and to the destruction of Israel; smaller and more exclusively militant that Hamas
   • jabat al-tahrir al-filistiniyyah, palestine liberation front, plf - a terrorist group formed in 1977 as the result of a split with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; became a satellite of al-Fatah; made terrorist attacks on Israel across the Lebanese border
   • palestinian hizballah - a little known Palestinian group comprised of members of Hamas and Tanzim with suspected ties to the Lebanese Hizballah; responsible for suicide bombings in Israel
   • pentagon gang - a Filipino terrorist group that broke away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 2001 in order to continue terrorism and kidnapping and extortion
   • pflp, popular front for the liberation of palestine - a terrorist group of limited popularity formed in 1967 after the Six-Day War; combined Marxist-Leninist ideology with Palestinian nationalism; used terrorism to gain attention for their cause; hoped to eliminate the state of Israel
   • pflp-gc, popular front for the liberation of palestine-general command - a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization that conducted several attacks in western Europe
   • popular struggle front, psf - a terrorist group of radical Palestinians who split with al-Fatah in 1967 but now have close relations with al-Fatah; staged terrorist attacks against Israel across the Lebanese border
   • 15 may organization - a terrorist organization formed in 1979 by a faction of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine but disbanded in the 1980s when key members left to join a faction of al-Fatah
   • pagad, people against gangsterism and drugs - a terrorist organization in South Africa formed in 1996 to fight drug lords; evolved into a vigilante group with anti-western views closely allied with Qibla; is believed to have ties to Islamic extremists in the Middle East; is suspected of conducting bouts of urban terrorism
   • puka inti, red sun, sol rojo - a small but violent terrorist organization formed in Ecuador in the early 1990s; responsible for bombing several government buildings
   • iz al-din al-qassam battalions, qassam brigades, salah al-din battalions - the military arm of Hamas responsible for suicide bombings and other attacks on Israel
   • qibla - a small terrorist group of Muslims in South Africa formed in the 1980s; was inspired by Ayatollah Khomeini to create an Islamic state in South Africa
   • dissident irish republican army, real ira, real irish republican army, rira - a radical terrorist group that broke away in 1997 when the mainstream Provisional IRA proposed a cease-fire; has continued terrorist activities in opposition to any peace agreement
   • raf, red army faction - a Marxist and Maoist terrorist organization in Germany; a network of underground guerillas who committed acts of violence in the service of the class struggle; a successor to the Baader-Meinhof Gang; became one of Europe's most feared terrorist groups; disbanded in 1998
   • br, brigate rosse, red brigades - a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization that arose out of a student protest movement in the late 1960s; wants to separate Italy from NATO and advocates violence in the service of class warfare and revolution; mostly inactive since 1989
   • red hand defenders, rhd - a paramilitary group of Protestants in Northern Ireland that tries to prevent any political settlement with the Irish Republic; attacks interests of Catholic civilians in Northern Ireland; responsible for arson and bombing and murder
   • farc, fuerzas armadas revolucionarios de colombia, revolutionary armed forces of colombia - a powerful and wealthy terrorist organization formed in 1957 as the guerilla arm of the Colombian communist party; opposed to the United States; has strong ties to drug dealers
   • 17 november, revolutionary organization 17 november - a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization in Greece that is violently opposed to imperialism and capitalism and NATO and the United States; an active terrorist group during the 1980s
   • revolutionary people's liberation front, revolutionary people's liberation party - an extreme Marxist terrorist organization in Turkey that is opposed to NATO and the United States; attacks Turkish security and military officials
   • ela, revolutionary people's struggle - an extreme leftist terrorist group formed in Greece in 1971 to oppose the military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974; a revolutionary group opposed to capitalism and imperialism and the United States
   • nipr, revolutionary proletarian initiative nuclei, revolutionary proletarian nucleus - a clandestine group of leftist extremists who oppose Italy's labor policies and foreign policy; responsible for bombing building in the historic center of Rome from 2000 to 2002
   • revolutionary united front, ruf - a terrorist group formed in the 1980s in Sierra Leone; seeks to overthrow the government and gain control of the diamond producing regions; responsible for attacks on civilians and children, widespread torture and murder and using children to commit atrocities; sponsored by the president of Liberia
   • gspc, salafast group for call and combat, salafist group - an Algerian extremist Islamic offshoot of the Armed Islamic Group; now the largest and most active armed terrorist group in Algeria that seeks to overthrow the government; a major source of support and recruitment for al-Qaeda operations in Europe and northern Africa
   • sendero luminoso, shining path, sl - a terrorist group formed in Peru in the late 1960s as a splinter group from the communist party of Peru; is among the most ruthless guerilla organizations in the world; seeks to destroy Peruvian institutions and replace them with a Maoist peasant regime; is involved in the cocaine trade
   • sipah-e-sahaba - a vicious sectarian organization in Pakistan that persecutes Shiite Muslims and collaborates with al-Qaeda to attack foreigners and to disrupt the government of Pakistan
   • movement for revenge, tareekh e kasas - an organization of Muslims in India who killed Hindus in September 2002; believed to have ties with Muslim terrorists in Pakistan
   • movimiento revolucionario tupac anaru, mrta, tupac amaru revolutionary movement - a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization in Peru; was formed in 1983 to overthrow the Peruvian government and replace it with a Marxist regime; has connections with the ELN in Bolivia
   • egtk, tupac katari guerrilla army - a terrorist group that is the remnants of the original Bolivian insurgents trained by Che Guevara; attacks small unprotected targets such as power pylons or oil pipelines or government buildings
   • turkish hizballah - an ethnic Kurdish group of Sunni extremists formed in the late 1980s in southeastern Turkey; seeks to replace Turkey's secular regime with an Islamic state and strict shariah law; responsible for bombings and the torture and murder of Turkish and Kurdish journalists and businessmen; receives support from Iran
   • uda, ulster defence association - the major Protestant paramilitary group in Northern Ireland; responsible for bombing the homes of Catholics and for criminal racketeering and selling drugs
   • auc, autodefensas unidas de colombia, united self-defense force of colombia, united self-defense group of colombia - a terrorist organization in Colombia formed in 1997 as an umbrella for local and regional paramilitary groups; is financed by earnings from narcotics and serves to protect the economic interests of its members
   same as: foreign terrorist organization, fto, terrorist organization

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