Ir since 1945

MUHAMMAD SOHAIL HASSAN BSSS02163006 ASSIGNMENT#01 Course: International Relations since 1945 Topic: Types of Terrorism Submitted To: DR.Tehmina Aslam Content 1-Introduction of Terrorism 2- Historical background 3- Democracy and domestic terrorism 4- Motivations of terrorists 5-Nationalist-separatist terrorism 6-State-sponsored terrorism 7-Left-wing terrorism 8-Cyberterrorism 9-Religious terrorism 10-Right-wing terrorism 11-Anchorist terrorism 12-Narcoterrorism Terrorism It might seem like terrorism is a new phenomenon, but in reality it’s existed for 2000 years. Terrorism is the use or threat of violence that aims to spread fear in a population, and to advance a political, ideological or religious cause. It’s important to understand that not all violent acts are terrorist acts. Terrorism is more of a strategy than just a random act of violence, as it always includes some sort of political, ideological or religious motivation on the part of the perpetrators. The reasons behind why a group or individual would carry out a terrorist act vary. Terrorism can also be motivated by political views, which may overlap with religious reasons. For example, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombings were carried out to send a message to the US government about FBI operations. There are different definitions of terrorism. Terrorism is a charged term. It is often used with the connotation of something that is "morally wrong". Governments and non-state groups use the term to abuse or denounce opposing groups. Varied political organizations have been accused of using terrorism to achieve their objectives. These organizations include right-wing and left-wing political organizations, nationalist groups, religious groups, revolutionaries and ruling governments. Legislation declaring terrorism a crime has been adopted in many states. There is no consensus as to whether or not terrorism should be regarded as a war crime. The Global Terrorism Database, maintained by the University of Maryland, College Park, has recorded more than 61,000 incidents of non-state terrorism, resulting in at least 140,000 deaths between 2000 and 2014. Historical background The term terrorist, meaning "terrorist", is first used in 1794 by the French philosopher François-Noël Babeuf, who denounces Maxim lien Robespierre's Jacobin regime as a dictatorship.[15][16] In the years leading up to the Reign of Terror, the Brunswick Manifesto threatened Paris with an "exemplary, never to be forgotten vengeance: the city would be subjected to military punishment and total destruction" if the royal family was harmed, but this only increased the Revolution's will to abolish the monarchy. Some writer’s attitudes about French Revolution grew less favorable after the French monarchy was abolished in 1792. During the Reign of Terror, which began in July 1793 and lasted thirteen months, Paris was governed by the Committee of Public safety who oversaw a regime of mass executions and public purges. Democracy and domestic terrorism Terrorism is most common in nations with intermediate political freedom, and it is least common in the most democratic nations. one study suggests that suicide attacks may be an exception to this general rule.[irrelevant citation] Evidence regarding this particular method of terrorism reveals that every modern suicide campaign has targeted a democracy–a state with a considerable degree of political freedom. The study suggests that concessions awarded to terrorists during the 1980s and 1990s for suicide attacks increased their frequency. There is a connection between the existence of civil liberties, democratic participation and terrorism. According to Young and Dugan, these things encourage terrorist groups to organize and generate terror. While a democratic nation espousing civil liberties may claim a sense of higher moral ground than other regimes, an act of terrorism within such a state may cause a dilemma: whether to maintain its civil liberties and thus risk being perceived as ineffective in dealing with the problem; or alternatively to restrict its civil liberties and thus risk delegitimizing its claim of supporting civil liberties. For this reason, homegrown terrorism has started to be seen as a greater threat, as stated by former CIA Director Michael Hayden. This dilemma, some social theorists would conclude, may very well play into the initial plans of the acting terrorist(s); namely, to delegitimize the state and cause a systematic shift towards anarchy via the accumulation of negative sentiments towards the state system. Motivations of terrorists As well as there being no one agreed definition of terrorism, there is a similar lack of consensus regarding the causes – or motivations behind – terrorism. Numerous studies have identified certain behavioral and situational characteristics that are common, and perhaps causal, to the consequence of terrorism, specific analysis of case studies have led to suggested motivations to individual historical acts. Intimidation Attacks on 'collaborators' are used to intimidate people from cooperating with the state in order to undermine state control. This strategy was used in Ireland, in Kenya, in Algeria and in Cyprus during their independence struggles. International Attention This strategy was used by Al-Qaeda in its attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the United States on September 11, 2001. These attacks are used to draw international attention to struggles that are otherwise unreported, such as the Palestinian airplane hijackings in 1970 and the 1975 Dutch train hostage crisis. Local/internal social standing Abraham suggests that terrorist organizations do not select terrorism for its political effectiveness. Individual terrorists tend to be motivated more by a desire for social solidarity with other members of their organization than by political platforms or strategic objectives, which are often murky and undefined. Religious beliefs/zealotry According to Paul Gill, John Horgan and Paige Deckert on behalf of The Department of security of UK, 43 percent of lone wolf terrorism is motivated by religious beliefs. The same report indicates that just less than a third (32 percent) have pre-existing mental health disorders, while many are found to have these problems upon arrest. At least 37 percent lived alone at the time of their event planning and/or execution, a further 26 percent lived with others, and no data were available for the remaining cases. 40 percent were unemployed at the time of their arrest or terrorist event. Many were chronically unemployed and consistently struggled to hold any form of employment for a significant amount of time. 19 percent subjectively experienced being disrespected by others, while 14.3 percent experienced being the victim of verbal or physical assault. Mental Health Ariel Merari, a psychologist who has studied the psychological profiles of suicide terrorists since 1983 through media reports that contained biographical details, interviews with the suicides’ families, and interviews with jailed would-be suicide attackers, concluded that they were unlikely to be psychologically abnormal. In comparison to economic theories of criminal behavior, Scott Atran found that suicide terrorists exhibit none of the socially dysfunctional attributes – such as fatherless, friendless, jobless situations – or suicidal symptoms. By which he means, they do not kill themselves simply out of hopelessness or a sense of 'having nothing to lose. Financial support for family Another factor is perceived assurances of financial stability for the actor's families that they are given when they join a terrorist organization or complete an attempt of terror. An extra grant is provided for the families of suicide bombers. Non-state groups Groups not part of the state apparatus of in opposition to the state are most commonly referred to as a "terrorist" in the media. According to the Global Terrorism Database, the most active terrorist group in the period 1970 to 2010 was Shining Path (with 4,517 attacks), followed by Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), Irish Republican Army (IRA), Basque Fatherland and Freedom (ETA), Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Taliban, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, New People's Army, National Liberation Army of Colombia (ELN), and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). EIGHT MAJOR TYPES OF TERRORISM The eight major types of terrorism are 1-Nationalist-separatist terrorism 2-State-sponsored terrorism 3-Left-wing terrorism 4-Cyberterrorism 5-Religious terrorism 6-Right-wing terrorism 7-Anchorist terrorism 8-Narcoterrorism Nationalist terrorism Nationalist terrorism is a form of terrorism motivated by nationalism. Nationalist terrorists seek to form self-determination in some form, which may range from gaining greater autonomy to establishing a completely independent, sovereign state (separatism). Nationalist terrorists often oppose what they consider to be occupying, imperial, or otherwise illegitimate powers. Nationalist terrorism is linked to a national, ethnic, religious, or other identifying group, and the feeling among members of that group that they are oppressed or denied rights, especially rights accorded to others. As with the concept of terrorism itself, the term "nationalist terrorism" and its application are highly contentious issues. What constitutes an illegitimate regime and what types of violence and war are acceptable against such a state are subjects of debate. Groups described by some as "nationalist terrorists" tend to consider them "freedom fighters," engaged in valid but asymmetric warfare. Mother nationalistic terrorism can include violence against immigrants in a country. Nationalists in many countries see immigration as a threat to the prosperity of the local or native population of that country. Balochistan Liberation Army The Balochistan Liberation Army also known as the Baloch Liberation Army is a Baloch militant organization based in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The BLA is listed as a terrorist organization by Pakistan, United Kingdom, United States and European Union. Since 2004 the BLA has waged an armed struggle against the state of Pakistan for what it claims as equal rights and self-determination for the Baloch people in Pakistan, who it claims have been subjected to repression for decades. Attacks On 14 December 2005, BLA militants launched six rockets at a paramilitary camp in Balochistan's Kohlu district that then-President Pervez Musharraf was visiting. Though Musharraf's life was never in any real danger, the Pakistani government labeled the attack an attempt on his life and initiated a sweeping army operation in Kohlu. On 14 June 2009, masked gunmen shot dead Anwar Baig, a school teacher in Kalat. Baig had opposed recitation of the Baloch anthem in schools. The killing was part of a larger campaign against educators who were seen to be sympathetic to the Pakistani state. On 30 June 2015, Baloch liberation army (BLA) clashed with United Baloch Army (UBA) in Dera Bugti. The attack resulted in death of 20 militants on both sides. On 7 October 2016, Baloch liberation army claimed responsibility for twin blast targeting Jaffar Express. The attack claimed lives of six people and wounded eighteen other. ETA (separatist group) ETA an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna "Basque Country and Freedom"),[5] was an armed leftist Basque nationalist and separatist organization in the Basque Country (in northern Spain and southwestern France). The group was founded in 1959 and later evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group engaged in a violent campaign of bombing, assassinations and kidnappings in the Southern Basque Country and throughout Spanish territory. Its goal was gaining independence for the Basque Country. ETA was the main group within the Basque National Liberation Movement and was the most important Basque participant in the Basque conflict. Between 1968 and 2010, it killed 829 people (including 340 civilians) and injured thousands more ETA was classified as a terrorist group by Spain, France the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and the European Union. This convention was followed by a plurality of domestic and international media, which also referred to the group as "terrorists.] There are more than 260 imprisoned former members of the group in Spain, France, and other countries Kurdistan Workers' Party His Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK ‎is a Kurdish far-left militant and political organization based in Turkey and Iraq. Since 1984 the PKK has been involved in an armed conflict with the Turkish state (with a two-year cease-fire during 2013–2015), with the initial aim of achieving an independent Kurdish state, later changing it to a demand for equal rights and Kurdish autonomy in Turkey. Since the PKK's foundation, it has been involved in armed clashes with Turkish security forces. The full-scale insurgency, however, did not begin until 15 August 1984, when the PKK announced a Kurdish uprising. Since the conflict began, more than 40,000 have died, most of who were Turkish Kurdish civilians. Since PKK leader Ocala’s capture and imprisonment in 1999, he has moved on from Marxism–Leninism,[28] leading the party to adopt his new political platform of democratic confederalism while ceasing its official calls for the establishment of a fully independent country Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA or Provo’s) was an Irish republican paramilitary organization that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland,[18] facilitate the reunification of Ireland and bring about an independent republic encompassing all of Ireland. It was the biggest and most active republican paramilitary group during the Troubles. It saw itself as the successor to the original IRA and called itself simply the Irish Republican Army (IRA), or Goliath and herein in Irish, and was broadly referred to as such by others. The IRA was designated an unlawful terrorist organization in the United Kingdom and an unlawful organization in the Republic of Ireland. The IRA called a final ceasefire in July 1997, after its political wing Sinn Féin was re-admitted into the Northern Ireland peace talks. It supported the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and in 2005 it disarmed under international supervision. People's Mujahedin of Iran The People's Mujahidin Organization of Iran or the Mujahidin-e Khalq is an Iranian political–militant organization based on Islamic and Socialist ideology and advocates overthrowing the Islamic Republic of Iran leadership and installing its own government. It was the "first Iranian organization to develop systematically a modern revolutionary interpretation of Islam – an interpretation that deferred sharply from both the old conservative Islam of the traditional clergy and the new populist version formulated in the 1970s by Ayatollah Khomeini and his government. The MEK is considered the Islamic Republic of Iran's biggest and most active political opposition group. The European Union, Canada and the United States formerly listed the MEK as a terrorist organization, but this designation has since been lifted, first by the Council of the European Union in 26 January 2009, by the U.S. government on 21 September 2012 and lastly by the Canadian government on 20 December 2012. The MEK is currently designated as a terrorist organization by Iran and Iraq. In June 2004, the U.S. designated the members of the MEK as ‘protected persons’ under the Geneva Convention IV relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a Tamil militant organization that was based in northeastern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Velupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a secessionist nationalist insurgency to create an independent state of Tamil Eelam in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil people. This campaign led to the Sri Lankan Civil War, which ran from 1983 until 2009, when the LTTE was eventually defeated during the presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa .Due to its military victories, policies, call for national self-determination and constructive Tamil nationalist platform, the LTTE was supported by major sections of the Tamil community. University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) claimed that "by combination of internal terror and narrow nationalist ideology the LTTE succeeded in atomizing the community. It took away not only the right to oppose but even the right to evaluate, as a community, the course they were taking. This gives a semblance of illusion that the whole society is behind the LTTE .At the height of its power, the LTTE possessed a well-developed militia and carried out many high-profile militant attacks, including the assassinations of key figures within the Sri Lankan government. State sponsors A state can sponsor terrorism by funding or harboring a terrorist group. Opinions as to which acts of violence by states consist of state-sponsored terrorism vary widely. As with "terrorism" the concept of "state terrorism" is controversial. The Chairman of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee has stated that the Committee was conscious of 12 international Conventions on the subject, and none of them referred to State terrorism, which was not an international legal concept. If States abused their power, they should be judged against international conventions dealing with war crimes, international human rights law, and international humanitarian law. Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that it is "time to set aside debates on so-called 'state terrorism'. The use of force by states is already thoroughly regulated under international law. he made clear that, "regardless of the differences between governments on the question of the definition of terrorism, what is clear and what we can all agree on is that any deliberate attack on innocent civilians [or non-combatants], regardless of one's cause, is unacceptable and fits into the definition of terrorism. State terrorism has been used to refer to terrorist acts committed by governmental agents or forces. This involves the use of state resources employed by a state's foreign policies, such as using its military to directly perform acts of terrorism. Professor of Political Science Michael Stohl cites the examples that include the German bombing of London, the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, the British and American firebombing of Dresden, and the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. He argues that "the use of terror tactics is common in international relations and the state has been and remains a more likely employer of terrorism within the international system than insurgents." He cites the first strike option as an example of the "terror of coercive diplomacy" as a form of this, which holds the world hostage with the implied threat of using nuclear weapons in "crisis management" and he argues that the institutionalized form of terrorism has occurred as a result of changes that took place following World War II. In this analysis, state terrorism exhibited as a form of foreign policy was shaped by the presence and use of weapons of mass destruction, and the legitimizing of such violent behavior led to an increasingly accepted form of this behavior by the state Left-wing terrorism Left-wing terrorism (sometimes called Marxist–Leninist terrorism or revolutionary/left-wing terrorism) is terrorism meant to overthrow conservative or capitalist systems and replace them with Marxist–Leninist, socialist, or liberal societies. Left-wing terrorism also occurs within already socialist states as activism against the current ruling government. It has taken vivid manifestations across the world and presented diverging dynamics and relationships with national governments and political economies. Left-wing terrorists have been influenced by various communist and socialist currents, including Marxism. Narodnaya Volya, a 19th-century terrorist group that killed Tsar Alexander II of Russia in 1881 and developed the concept of propaganda by the deed, is a major influence. Canada The Front deliberation du Québec was a Marxist-Leninist group active in Canada in the 1960s and '70s, promoting socialist insurrection and an independent Quebec. They are known for over 160 bombings and other violent incidents that killed eight and for the kidnap-murder of Quebec politician Pierre Laporte in 1970. United States Modern left-wing terrorist groups in the United States developed from remnants of the Weather Underground and extremist elements of the Students for a Democratic Society. Between 1973 and 1975, the Symbioses Liberation Army was active, committing bank robberies, murders, and other acts of violence. Other terrorist groups such as the small New World Liberation Front resorted to death threats, drive-by shootings and planting of pipe-bombs in the late 1970s. During the 1980s, both the May 19th Communist Organization (M19CO) and the smaller United Freedom Front were active. After 1985, following the dismantling of both groups, one source reports there were no confirmed acts of left-wing terrorism by similar groups. Incidents of left-wing terrorism dropped off at the end of the Cold War (circa 1989), partly due to the loss of support for communism. Latin America Stefan M. Audrey describes the Sandinistas, Shining Path, 19th of April Movement, and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) as the main organizations involved in left-wing terrorism in Latin America during the 1970s and 1980s. These organizations opposed the United States government and drew local support as well as receiving support from the Soviet Union and Cuba. FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist organization in Colombia which has engaged in vehicle bombings, gas cylinder bombs, killings, landmines, kidnapping, extortion and hijacking as well as guerilla and conventional military? The United States Department of State includes the FARC-EP on its list of foreign terrorist organizations, as does the European Union. It funds itself primarily through extortion, kidnapping and their participation in the illegal drug trade. Many of their fronts enlist new and underage recruits by force, distribute propaganda and rob banks. Businesses operating in rural areas, including agricultural, oil, and mining interests, were required to pay "vaccines" (monthly payments) which "protected" them from subsequent attacks and kidnappings. An additional, albeit less lucrative, source of revenue was highway blockades in which guerrillas stopped motorists and buses in order to confiscate jewelry and money. An estimated 20 to 30 percent of FARC combatants are under 18 years old, with many as young as 12 years old, for a total of around 5000 children. Children who try to escape the ranks of the guerrillas are punished with torture and death. May 19th Communist Organization The May 19th Communist Organization, also referred to as the May 19 Communist Coalition, was a United States-based, self-described revolutionary organization formed by splintered-off members of the Weather Underground and the Black Liberation Army. The M19CO name was derived from the birthdays of Ho Chi Minh and Malcolm X. The May 19 Communist Organization was active from 1978 to 1985. It also included members of the Black Panthers and the Republic of New Africa (RNA).According to a 2001 US government report, the alliance between Black Liberation Army and Weather Underground members had three objectives: free political prisoners from US prisons; appropriate capitalist wealth (through armed robberies) to fund their operations; and initiate a series of bombings and terrorist attacks against the United States. Shining Path The Communist Party of Peru, more commonly known as the Shining Path, is a Maoist guerrilla organization that launched the internal conflict in Peru in 1980. Widely condemned for its brutality, including violence deployed against peasants, trade union organizers, popularly elected officials and the general civilian population, Shining Path is on the United States Department of State's "Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations" list. Peru, the European Union, and Canada likewise regard Shining Path as a terrorist group and prohibit providing funding or other financial support. Asia Stefan M. Audrey describes the Japanese Red Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as the main left-wing terrorist organizations in Asia, although he notes that the LTTE later transformed into a nationalist terrorist organization. Communist Party of India Armed Naxalite groups operate across large parts of the central and eastern rural regions of India. Informed by the People's War strategy of Maoism, the most prominent of the groups is the Communist Party of India (Maoist), formed through the merging of two previous Naxalite organizations, the People's War Group and the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCC). Armed Naxalite movements are considered India's largest internal security threat. Nasality militants have engaged in numerous terrorist attacks and human rights violations in India's Red Corridor. Communist Party of Nepal The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has been responsible for hundreds of attacks on government and civilian targets. After the United People's Front of Nepal (UPF)'s Maoist wing, CPN-M, performed poorly in elections and was excluded from the 194 election, the Maoists turned to insurgency. They aimed to overthrow Nepal's monarchy and parliamentary democracy, and to change Nepalese society, including a purge of the nation's elite class, a state takeover of private industry, and collectivization of The CPN (Maoist) has consistently targeted private schools, which it ideologically opposes. On the 14 April 2005 the CPN (Maoist) demanded that all private schools shut down, although this demand was withdrawn on 28 April. Following this demand, it bombed two schools in western Nepal on 15 April, a school in Nepalganj, Banke district on 17 April and a school in Kalyanpur, Chit wan on 21 April. CPN (Maoist) cadres also reportedly threw a bomb at students taking classes in a school in Khara, Rukum district. Japanese Red Army The Japanese Red Army (JRA) was founded in 1969 as the "Red Army Faction" by students impatient with the Communist Party. In 1970, they hijacked a plane to North Korea, where nine of their members were interned. Fourteen members were killed during an internal purge. In 1971, the renamed JRA formed a connection with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and established a base in Lebanon. Their major terrorist acts included an armed attack on the Tel Aviv airport, hijacking planes to Libya and Bangladesh, kidnapping the French ambassador to the Hague, and bombing a United Service Organizations (USO) nightclub in Naples, Italy. By the mid-1990s, their level of activity had declined and the US State Department no longer considered them a terrorist threat. In 2001, their leader announced the dissolution of the group, although some of its members were in prison and others were still wanted by police. Pakistan Left-wing groups like the Pakhtoon Zalmay, Al-Zulfiqar organization (AZO) and the MQM including its predecessor the Muhajir Qaumi Movement committed numerous acts of violence including bombings, targeted killings, disinformation and assassinations. Europe Typically small and urban-based, left-wing terrorist organizations in Europe have been committed to overthrowing their countries' governments and replacing them with regimes guided by Marxist–Leninist ideology. Although none have achieved any degree of success in accomplishing their goals, they have caused serious security problems in Germany, Belgium, Italy, Greece, France, Turkey, Portugal and Spain. Action Direct Action Direct (AD) was active in France between 1979 and 1987. Between 1979 and 1985, they concentrated on non-lethal bombings and strafing of government buildings, although they assassinated a French Ministry of Defense official. Following arrests of some of its members, the organization declined and became inactive. The French government has banned the group. Communist Combatant Cells The Communist Combatant Cells (CCC) was founded in 1982 in Belgium by Pierre Carette. With about ten members, the CCC financed its activities through a series of bank robberies. Over the course of 14 months, they carried out 20 attacks against property, mostly North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) facilities. Despite attempts to avoid loss of life, there were casualties as a result of these attacks. After Carette and other members were arrested in 1985, the group ceased to be operational. Carette served 17 years of a life sentence, although his colleagues that were convicted with him were released earlier. Cyber terrorism Cyber terrorism is the use of the Internet to conduct violent acts that result in, or threaten, loss of life or significant bodily harm, in order to achieve political or ideological gains through threat or intimidation. It is also sometimes considered an act of Internet terrorism where terrorist activities, including acts of deliberate, large-scale disruption of computer networks, especially of personal computers attached to the Internet by means of tools such as computer viruses, computer worms, phishing, and other malicious software and hardware methods and programming scripts. Cyber terrorism is a controversial term. Some authors opt for a very narrow definition, relating to deployment by known terrorist organizations of disruption attacks against information systems for the primary purpose of creating alarm, panic, or physical disruption. Other authors prefer a broader definition, which includes cybercrime. Participating in a cyber-attack affects the terror threat perception, even if it isn't done with a violent approach. By some definitions, it might be difficult to distinguish which instances of online activities are cyber terrorism or cybercrime. Cyber terrorism can be also defined as the intentional use of computers, networks, and public internet to cause destruction and harm for personal objectives. Experienced cyber terrorists, who are very skilled in terms of hacking can cause massive damage to government systems, hospital records, and national security programs, which might leave a country, community or organization in turmoil and in fear of further attacks. The objectives of such terrorists may be political or ideological since this can be considered a form of terror. There is much concern from government and media sources about potential damage that could be caused by cyber terrorism, and this has prompted efforts by government agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to put an end to cyber-attacks and cyber terrorism. There have been several major and minor instances of cyber terrorism. Al-Qaeda utilized the internet to communicate with supporters and even to recruit new members. Estonia, a Baltic country which is constantly evolving in terms of technology, became a battleground for cyber terror in April, 2007 after disputes regarding the removal of a WWII soviet statue located in Estonia's capital Tallinn. Religious terrorism Terrorist acts throughout history have been performed on religious grounds with the goal to either spread or enforce a system of belief, viewpoint or opinion. The validity and scope of religious terrorism is limited to an individual's view or a group's view or interpretation of that belief system's teachings. According to the Global Terrorism Index by the University of Maryland, College Park, religious extremism has overtaken national separatism and become the main driver of terrorist attacks around the world. Since 9/11 there has been a five-fold increase in deaths from terrorist attacks. The majority of incidents over the past several years can be tied to groups with a religious agenda. Before 2000, it was nationalist separatist terrorist organizations such as the IRA and Chechen rebels who were behind the most attacks. The number of incidents from nationalist separatist groups has remained relatively stable in the years since while religious extremism has grown. The prevalence of Islamist groups in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria is the main driver behind these trends. Four of the terrorist groups that have been most active since 2001 are Boko Haram, Al Qaeda, the Taliban and ISIL. These groups have been most active in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria. 80 percent of all deaths from terrorism occurred in one of these five countries. Terrorism in Pakistan has become a great problem. From the summer of 2007 until late 2009, more than 1,500 people were killed in suicide and other attacks on civilians for reasons attributed to a number of causes – sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims; easy availability of guns and explosives; the existence of a "Kalashnikov culture"; an influx of ideologically driven Muslims based in or near Pakistan, who originated from various nations around the world and the subsequent war against the pro-Soviet Afghans in the 1980s which blew back into Pakistan; the presence of Islamist insurgent groups and forces such as the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Tibia. Pakistan is the 10th most dangerous country by criminality index. On July 2, 2013 in Lahore, 50 Muslim scholars of the Sunni Etihad Council (SIC) issued a collective fatwa against suicide bombings, the killing of innocent people, bomb attacks, and targeted killings declaring them as Haram or forbidden. In 2015, the Southern Poverty Law Center released a report on terrorism in the United States. The report (titled The Age of the Wolf) found that during that period, "more people have been killed in America by non-Islamic domestic terrorists than jihadists. The "virulent racist and anti-Semitic" ideology of the ultra-right wing Christian Identity movement is usually accompanied by anti-government sentiments. Adherents of Christian Identity believe that whites of European descent can be traced back to the "Lost Tribes of Israel" and many consider Jews to be the satanic offspring of Eve and the Serpent. This group has committed hate crimes, bombings and other acts of terrorism. Its influence ranges from the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups to the anti-government militia and sovereign citizen movements. Christian Identity's origins can be traced back to Anglo-Israelism. Anglo-Israelism held the view that Jews were descendants of ancient Israelites who had never been lost. By the 1930s, the movement had been infected with anti-Semitism, and eventually Christian Identity theology diverged from traditional Anglo-Israelis, and developed what is known as the "two seed" theory. According to the two-seed theory, the Jewish people are descended from Cain and the serpent (not from Shem). The white European seedling is descended from the "lost tribes" of Israel. They hold themselves to "God's laws", not to "man's laws", and they do not feel bound to a government that they consider run by Jews and the New World Order. Right-wing terrorism Right-wing terrorism is terrorism motivated by a variety of different far-right ideologies, most prominently neo-fascism, neo-Nazism and white nationalism. Modern radical right-wing terrorism first appeared in Western Europe in the 1970s and it first appeared in Eastern Europe following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Right-wing terrorists aim to overthrow governments and replace them with nationalist or fascist regimes. Although they often take inspiration from Italian fascism and Nazi Germany, right-wing terrorist groups frequently lack a rigid ideology. South Africa In 1993 Chris Hani, the General Secretary of the South African Communist Party was murdered by Polish-born far-right anti-Communist Janus Waluś who had been lent a firearm by far-right pro-Apartheid MP Clive Derby-Lewis. The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, a neo-Nazi paramilitary organization, has often been described as terrorist. In 2010 South African authorities foiled a plot by far-right terrorists to commit attacks as revenge for the murder of Eugene Terre'Blanche, seizing explosives and firearms. Argentina The Argentine Patriotic League was a Nationalist paramilitary group, created in Buenos Aires on January 16, 1919, during the tragic week events. It was merged into the Argentine Civic Legion in 1931.The Argentine Anticommunist Alliance was a far-right death squad founded in Argentina in 1973 and active under Isabel Person’s rule (1974–1976). Brazil During Brazil's military government, some right-wing military engaged in violent repression. The Riocentro 1981 May Day Attack was a bombing attempt that happened on the night of April 30, 1981. Severe casualties were suffered by the terrorists. While an NGO held a fundraiser fighting for democracy and free elections and celebrating the upcoming holiday, a bomb exploded at Riocentro parking area killing army sergeant Guillermo Pereira do Rosario and severely wounding captain Wilson Dias Machado, who survived the bomb explosion. The bomb exploded inside a car where both were preparing it. Rosario died instantaneously. They were the only casualties.. Colombia Colombian paramilitary groups were responsible for most of the human rights violations in the latter half of the ongoing Colombian conflict. The first paramilitary terrorist groups were organized by U.S. military advisers who were sent during the Cold War to combat the spread of leftist politicians, activists and guerrillas. According to several international human rights and governmental organizations, right-wing paramilitary groups were responsible for at least 70 to 80% of political murders in Colombia per year. Nicaragua The Contras were a right wing militant group, backed by the United States that fought against the Sandinista National Liberation Front in Nicaragua. They were responsible for numerous human rights violations and carried out over 1300 terrorist attacks. Pre-2001 According to American political scientist George Michael, "right-wing terrorism and violence has a long history in America. Right-wing violent incidents began to outnumber Marxist incidents in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s. Michael observes the waning of left-wing terrorism accompanying the rise of right-wing terrorism, with a noticeable "convergence" of the goals of militant Islam with those of the extreme right. Islamic studies scholar Youssef M. Choueiri classified Islamic fundamentalist movements involving revivalism, reformism, and radicalism as within the scope of "right-wing politics. During the 1980s, more than 75 right-wing extremists were prosecuted in the United States for acts of terrorism, carrying out six attacks. In 1983, Gordon Kahl, a Posse Comitatus activist, killed two federal marshals and he was later killed by police. Also that year, the white nationalist revolutionary group The Order robbed banks and armored cars, as well as a sex shop, bombed a theater and a synagogue and murdered radio talk show host Alan Berg.The April 19, 1995 attack on the Murrah federal building in Oklahoma by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols killed 168 people and it was the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in the history of the United States. McVeigh stated that it was committed in retaliation for the government's actions at Ruby Ridge and Waco. Post-2001 As of December 2018, the New America Foundation placed the number killed in terrorist attacks in the United States since 9/11 as follows: 104 killed in jihadist terrorist attacks, 86 killed in far-right attacks, 8 killed in black separatist/nationalist/supremacist attacks, and 8 killed in ideological misogyny/"incel" ideology attacks. The politically conservative Daily Caller News Foundation using data from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), found 92% of all "ideologically motivated homicide incidents" committed in the United States from 2007 to 2016 were motivated by right-wing extremism or white supremacism. According to the Government Accountability Office of the United States, 73% of violent extremist incidents that resulted in deaths since September 12, 2001 were caused by right-wing extremist groups. Denmark Neo-Nazis were suspected to have perpetrated the 1992 Copenhagen bombing, in which the office of a left-wing socialist party was attacked, killing one of its members. France In the town of Toulon, a far-right extremist group called SOS-France existed. On 18 August 1986, four members were driving a car carrying explosives, apparently in an attempt to bomb the offices of SOS Racism. However it exploded while they were still in it, killing all four of them. Neo-Nazi members of the French and European Nationalist Party were responsible for a pair of anti-immigrant terror bombings in 1988. Sonacotra hostels in Cagnes-sur-Mer and Cannes were bombed, killing Romanian immigrant George Iordachescu and injuring 16 people, mostly Tunisians. In an attempt to frame Jewish extremists for the Cagnes-sur-Mer bombing, the terrorists left leaflets bearing Stars of David and the name Masada at the scene, with the message "To destroy Israel, Islam has chosen the sword. For this choice, Islam will perish." On 28 May 2008, members of the neo-Nazi Nomad 88 group fired with machine guns at people from their car in Saint-Michel-sur-Orge. In 2015, in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo shooting, six mosques and a restaurant were attacked in acts deemed as right-wing terrorism by authorities. The acts included grenade throwing, shooting, and use of an improvised explosive device. Germany In 1980, a right-wing terrorist attack in Munich, Germany killed the attacker and 12 other people, injuring 215. Fears of an ongoing campaign of major right-wing terrorist attacks did not materialize. In addition to several bank robberies, the German National Socialist Underground was responsible for the Bosphorus serial murders (2000–2006), the 2004 Cologne bombing and the murder of policewoman Michéle Kiesewetter in 2007. In November 2011, two members of the National Socialist Underground committed suicide after a bank robbery and a third member was arrested some days later. Right-wing extremist offenses in Germany rose sharply in 2015 and 2016. Figures from the German government tallied 316 violent xenophobic offences in 2014 and 612 such offenses in 2015.In August 2014, a group of four Germans founded a Munich-based far-right terrorist group, the Old school Society. The group, which held racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-Muslim views, eventually attracted 30 members. They stockpiled weapons and explosives and plotted to attack a refugee shelter in Saxony, but the group's leaders were arrested in May 2015 before carrying out the attack. In March 2017 four of the group's leaders were sentenced to prison terms. The perpetrator of the 2016 Munich shooting also had far-right views. Italy In the 1970s and 1980s, Italy endured the Years of Lead, a period characterized by frequent terrorist attacks: between 1969 and 1982, the nation suffered 8,800 terrorist attacks, in which a total of 351 people were killed and 768 were injured. The terrorist attacks have been both ascribed both to the far-left and the far-right, yet many of the terrorist attacks remain without a clear culprit; many have claimed that responsibility for the attacks could be ascribed to rogue members of the Italian secret service. Some of the terrorist attacks ascribed to a particular political group may have actually been the work of these rogue agents: this has been claimed, among many others, by Francesco Cossiga, who was the President of the Italian Republic during the years of lead, and by Giulio Andreotti who, during the same period of time, held the office of Prime Minister more than once. Norway On July 22, 2011, Norwegian right-wing extremist with Nazi and fascist sympathies, Anders Behring Breivik, carried out the 2011 Norway attacks, the deadliest attack in Norway since World War II. First he bombed several government buildings in Oslo, killing eight people and injuring more than 200. After the bombings, he went to Utøya Island in a fake police uniform and began firing on people attending a political youth camp for the Worker's Youth League (AUF), a left-wing political party, killing 69 and injuring more than 110. Narcoterrorism Narcoterrorism is a term coined by former President Fernando Belinda Terry of Peru in 1983 when describing terrorist-type attacks against his nation's anti-narcotics police. In its original context, narcoterrorism is understood to mean the attempts of narcotics traffickers to influence the policies of a government or a society through violence and intimidation and to hinder the enforcement of anti-drug laws by the systematic threat or use of such violence. Pablo Escobar's violence in his dealings with the Colombian government is probably one of the best known and best documented examples of narcoterrorism. The term has become a subject of controversy, largely due to its use in discussing violent opposition to the US government's War on Drugs. The term is being increasingly used for known terrorist organizations that engage in drug trafficking activity to fund their operations and gain recruits and expertise. Such organizations include FARC, ELN, and AUC in Colombia, PCP-SL in Peru, Hamas and the Taliban. A 2013 Congressional Research Service report noted that in 2003, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported that 14 of 36 (39%) of the groups designated by the U.S. as foreign terrorist organizations "were involved 'to some degree' in illicit narcotics activity" while in fiscal year 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) "reported that 29 of the top 63 international drug syndicates, identified as such on the consolidated priority organization target (CPOT) list, were associated with terrorists. In 2000 the U.S. began funding, continued under the U.S. Bush administration, of Plan Colombia, intending to eradicate drug crops and to act against drug lords accused of engaging in narcoterrorism including among them the leaders of the Marxist FARC and the AUC paramilitary forces. The U.S. government is funding large-scale drug eradication campaigns and supporting Colombian military operations, seeking the extradition of commanders. Anchorite terrorism If Lower Manhattan’s Financial District was the center of American capitalism in the 1920s, then the southeast corner of Wall and Broad Streets was its most important junction. It was dominated by the headquarters of J.P. Morgan and Co., a financial leviathan that had come out of World War I as the most influential banking institution on the globe. Across the street stood the U.S. Sub-Treasury and the Assay Office. The bustling New York Stock Exchange was located just down the road. Rain was in the forecast for September 16, 1920, but as the bells of nearby Trinity Church rang in the noonday hour, “the Corner” was its usual hive of activity His last official inquiry into the Wall Street attack took place in 1944, when the FBI reopened the decades-old cold case and concluded the explosion was likely the work of “Italian anarchists or Italian terrorists.” Other investigators have since pointed to a Galleanist named Mario Buda as the most likely culprit. Buda was an associate of the famed anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolommeo Vanzetti, and he may have engineered the Wall Street attack as revenge for their September 11, 1920 indictment for murder in a robbery gone wrong. Buda fled to Italy shortly after the bombing, however, and remained there until his death. Neither he nor anyone else was ever charged with the September 16 attack. Wall Street reopened only a day after the deadly explosion, “determined, and “wrote the New York Sun, to show the world that business will precede as usual despite bombs.” Bandaged office clerks returned to their desks, and all signs of the blast were covered up or swept away including many pieces of evidence that might have helped in the police investigation. That afternoon, thousands of New Yorkers descended on the scene of the disaster and joined in renditions of “America the Beautiful” and the national anthem. Looming behind them was the Morgan building, its marble edifice marred by fist-deep holes from bomb shrapnel. The scars are still visible on the building today the lone monument to an unsolved crime that claimed 38 live.