The Development of Terrorist Groups

By jbrowne
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    IRA

    Nationalist movement in Ireland that primarily attacked British soldiers.
    Fought against the British in the Irish War of Independence and then on both sides of the Irish Civil War.
    Split into various groups throughout its lifespan, each enacting various degrees of violence against the British.
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    Irgun

    Nationalist group - sought a state of Israel.
    Formed by extremists from Haganah, an earlier group.
    Attacked Arabs and British occupiers.
    Known for the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.
    Helped start the Israeli-Arab War, during which, they were integrated into the Israeli Defence Forces.
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    Umkhonto we Sizwe (ANC)

    This political libertarian party is the armed wing of the African National Congress and was co-founded by Nelson Mandela in 1961.
    The much older ANC aimed to secure equal rights and end apartheid.
    The ANC has being the ruling party of South Africa since the first post-apartheid election of Nelson Mandela in 1994.
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    Palestine Liberation Organisation

    Whilst it represents an almost universally Muslim population, the PLO is a nationalist group, not a religious one.
    The PLO carried out several terrorist attacks aimed at Israel.
    In 1974, the UN granted the PLO observer status and it has since been recognised by most of the world as the representative of the Palestinian people.
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    Red Army Faction

    This West German left wing terrorist group were involved in bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, robberies and shootouts with the police over almost three decades.
    Espousing class and anti-imperialist views, the RAF or Baader Meinhoff Gang actually enjoyed widespread support or sympathy from the public.
    The group sent a letter to a newspaper in 1998 announcing their dissolution.
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    Hamas

    Desired the liberation of Palestine from Israeli occupation.
    Had nationalist aims but used religion to justify and mobilise people.
    Known for multiple suicide bombings and has attracted much criticism for its attacks against civilians and war crimes.
    Governed Gaza Strip from 2007-2014 and remained the main source of aggression against Israel from that area even afterwards.
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    Al-Qaeda

    This religious terrorist group is perhaps the most well known in the world after it perpetrated the September 11 attacks in 2001.
    Al-Qaeda grew out of the CIA funded mujahideen opposition to the Soviets in Afghanistan.
    The group was led by Osama bin Laden, who wanted to remove western influences and troops from Saudi Arabia.Since his death in 2011, the group has gradually become less relevant.
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    IS

    This islamist terrorist group places a large emphasis on extreme actions such as suicide bombings and recording executions.
    With early ties to Al-Qaeda, IS has been operating in Iraq and Syria for years, but since 2013 it ramped up its attacks and captured large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.
    From 2015 onwards, it lost ground and many of its opponents have declared it has been beaten