left-wing terrorism

Left-wing terrorist groups and individuals have been influenced by various anarchist, communist and socialist currents, including Marxism (and further, Marxism–Leninism and Maoism). Narodnaya Volya, a 19th-century revolutionary socialist political organization and a left-wing terrorist group which operated inside the Russian Empire, killed Tsar Alexander II of Russia in 1881{{cite news|title=Trial of the Czar's Assassins|newspaper=Wanganui Herald|volume=XV|issue=4132|date=7 May 1881|page=2|agency=United Press Association|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=WH18810507.2.14}} and developed the concept of "propaganda of the deed", is considered a major influence on left-wing terrorists.Moghadam, p. 50

According to Sarah Brockhoff, Tim Krieger, and Daniel Meierrieks, while left-wing terrorism is ideologically motivated, nationalist-separatist terrorism is ethnically motivated.Brockhoff, Krieger, and Meierrieks They argue that the revolutionary goal of left-wing terrorism is non-negotiable whereas nationalist terrorists are willing to make concessions.Brockhoff, Krieger and Meierrieks, p. 3 They suggest that the rigidity of the demands of left-wing terrorists may explain their lack of support relative to nationalist groups.Brockhoff, Krieger and Meierrieks, p. 17 Nevertheless, many on the revolutionary left have shown solidarity for national liberation groups employing terrorism, such as Irish nationalists, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and the Tupamaros in Uruguay, seeing them as engaged in a global struggle against capitalism. Since the nationalist sentiment is fueled by socio-economic conditions, some separatist movements, including the Basque ETA, the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and the Irish National Liberation Army, incorporated communist and socialist ideologies into their policies.Brockhoff, Krieger and Meierrieks, p. 18

David Brannan writes that left-wing terrorists and insurgents do not tend to engage in indiscriminate attacks on the public because doing so not only runs contrary to their socialist ideals of being the protectors of the working class, which they espouse, they also do not want to alienate large swaths of the working population, because such organizations and individuals seek to gain their support.{{cite book|editor-last=Tan|editor-first=Andrew T .H. |last= Brannan|first=David|date=2010 |title=Politics of Terrorism: A Survey|chapter=Left- and Right-wing Political Terrorism| chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qXerAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA60|publisher=Routledge |page=60 |isbn=9781857435795}} Other researchers argue that left-wing terrorism may not be less indiscriminate than its right-wing counterpart.Silke, Andrew, ed. (2018) Routledge Handbook of Terrorism and Counterterrorism. Routledge.Ahmed, Ranya (2018) "Terrorist ideologies and target selection." Journal of Applied Security Research v.13, n.3, pp.376-390.Stohl, Michael. The politics of terrorism. CRC Press, 2020, pp.159, 166-167

Left-wing terrorism has its roots in 19th and early 20th-century anarchist terrorism, and became pronounced during the Cold War following the aftermath of World War II.Brockhoff, Krieger, and Meierrieks, pp. 2–3 Modern left-wing terrorism developed in the context of the political unrest of 1968.{{cite book |last=Clark |first=Simon |year=2018 |chapter=Post-War Italian Politics: Stasis and Chaos |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z2V9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA30 |title=Terror Vanquished: The Italian Approach to Defeating Terrorism |location=Arlington, Virginia |publisher=Center for Security Policy Studies at the Schar School of Policy and Government (George Mason University) |pages=30–42, 48–59 |isbn=978-1-7329478-0-1 |lccn=2018955266}} According to David C. Rapoport, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the modern wave of left-wing terrorism began with the hijacking of the El Al Flight 426, operated by a Boeing 707-458C en route from London to Tel Aviv via Rome, committed by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in 1968.

In Western Europe, notable groups included the West German Red Army Faction (RAF), the Italian Red Brigades (BR),{{cite book |last=Drake |first=Richard |year=2021 |orig-date=1989 |chapter=The Two Faces of Italian Terrorism: 1969–1974 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xG0cEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT36 |title=The Revolutionary Mystique and Terrorism in Contemporary Italy |location=Bloomington, Indiana |publisher=Indiana University Press |edition=2nd |pages=36–53 |isbn=9780253057143 |lccn=2020050360}} the Greek Revolutionary Organization 17 November (17N), the French Action Directe (AD), and the Belgian Communist Combatant Cells (CCC). Asian groups have included the Japanese Red Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, although the latter organization later adopted nationalist terrorism. In Latin America, groups that became actively involved in terrorism in the 1970s and 1980s included the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, the Peruvian Shining Path, the Uruguayan Tupamaros, and the Colombian 19th of April Movement.

A 2014 paper by Kis-Katos et al. concluded that left-wing terrorism was the most prevalent terrorism in the past but has largely declined in the present day.Kis-Katos, Krisztina, Helge Liebert, and Günther G. Schulze. "On the heterogeneity of terror." European Economic Review 68 (2014): 116-136.

In Latin American countries, Stefan M. Aubrey 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 during the 1970s and 1980s. These organizations opposed United States involvement in Latin America and drew local support as well as receiving support from the Soviet Union and Cuba.

{{Missing information|section|the 1919 United States anarchist bombings, and the 1920 Wall Street bombing|date=December 2023}}

{{See also|Domestic terrorism in the United States|Terrorism in the United States|Timeline of terrorist attacks in the United States}}

File:Hearst-hibernia-yell.jpg robbing the Hibernia Bank in San Francisco, April 15, 1974 after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.]]

The Weather Underground was a domestic terrorist group that developed as "a small, violent offshoot of Students for a Democratic Society," a group that originated in the 1960s to advocate for social change.{{cite web | title=Weather Underground Bombings - Federal Bureau of Investigation | website=Federal Bureau of Investigation | date=2016-05-19 | url=https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/weather-underground-bombings | access-date=2022-01-14}} Between 1973 and 1975, the Symbionese Liberation Army was active, committing bank robberies, murders, and other acts of violence.{{Cite web |title=American Experience {{!}} Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst {{!}} PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/guerrilla/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320111756/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/guerrilla/index.html |archive-date=20 March 2017 |access-date=16 June 2016 |website=PBS}} 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.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/11/29/san-francisco-a-city-of-violence/3959fded-f13d-4c98-9060-ffb7fd5abc85/ "San Francisco: A City of Violence"], The Washington Post 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.Smith, pp. 24–25 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.Brockhoff, Krieger and Meierrieks, pp. 13, 19

In October 2020, the killing of Aaron Danielson was added to the CSIS terrorism database as a deadly "far-left" attack, the first such incident in over two decades.{{cite news |last=Beckett |first=Lois |date=October 22, 2020 |title=White supremacists behind majority of US domestic terror attacks in 2020 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/22/white-supremacists-rightwing-domestic-terror-2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124233440/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/22/white-supremacists-rightwing-domestic-terror-2020 |archive-date=November 24, 2021 |access-date=October 23, 2020 |newspaper=The Guardian}} The killing is also referenced on the Anti-Defamation League's page on antifa, as the only "suspected antifa-related murder" to date;{{cite web |title=Who are Antifa? |url=https://www.adl.org/antifa |access-date=October 20, 2020 |publisher=Anti-Defamation League}} and in the liberal think tank New America Foundation's tally of killings during terrorist attacks in the U.S. since 9/11 as the first recorded fatality in a far-left attack.{{cite web |title=In Depth: Terrorism in America After 9/11: Part IV. What is the Threat to the United States Today? (main text and details after clicking Dataset, then "Download as CSV") |url=https://www.newamerica.org/in-depth/terrorism-in-america/what-threat-united-states-today/ |access-date=December 4, 2020 |publisher=New America Foundation}}

The May 19th Communist Organization, also referred to as the 19 May 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.{{cite book |last=Jacobs |first=Ron |url=https://archive.org/stream/TheWayTheWindBlewAHistoryOfTheWeatherUnderground/waythewindblew_djvu.txt |title=The Way The Wind Blew: A History Of The Weather Underground |publisher=Verso Books |year=1997 |isbn=1-85984-167-8 |pages=76–77 |access-date=28 December 2009}} The M19CO name was derived from the birthdays of Ho Chi Minh and Malcolm X. The 19 May Communist Organization was active from 1978 to 1985. It also included members of the Black Panthers and the Republic of New Afrika (RNA).{{cite book|title=Left-Wing Extremism:The Current Threat Prepared for U.S. Department of Energy Office of Safeguards and Security|year=2001|publisher=Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education: Center for Human Reliability Studies ORISE 01-0439|location=Oak Ridge, TN|page=1|doi=10.2172/780410 |url=http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/780410-SHVVvq/native/780410.PDF|access-date= 27 December 2009|last1=Karl a. Seger }}{{cite news|title=Terrorist Organization Profile: May 19 Communist Order |author=National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and the Responses to Terrorism, DHS |newspaper=National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and the Responses to Terrorism |date=1 March 2008 |url=http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=3234 |access-date=27 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607235923/http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=3234 |archive-date=7 June 2010}} 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.

File:Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) insurgents.GIF guerrillas marching through the jungle, 1998.]]

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist organization in Colombia that has engaged in vehicle bombings, gas cylinder bombings, killings, placing of land mines, kidnapping, extortion and hijacking as well as both guerilla and conventional military tactics. 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.BBC News. "Colombia's Most Powerful Rebels." 19 September 2003. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1746777.stm Available online]. Accessed 1 September 2006.International Crisis Group. "War and Drugs in Colombia." 27 January 2005. [http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3238&l=1 Available online]. Accessed 1 September 2006. 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.Human Rights Watch. "Colombia: Armed Groups Send Children to War." 22 February 2005. [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/02/22/colomb10202.htm Available online]. Accessed 1 September 2006. Children who try to escape the ranks of the guerrillas are punished with torture and death.Human Rights Watch. "'You'll Learn Not to Cry: Child Combatants in Colombia." September 2003. [https://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/colombia0903/colombia0903.pdf Available online]. Accessed 1 September 2006.

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,Burt, Jo-Marie (2006). "'Quien habla es terrorista': The political use of fear in Fujimori's Peru." Latin American Research Review 41 (3) 32–62. Shining Path is on the United States Department of State's "Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations" list.US Department of State, "Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs)" 11 October 2005. [https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/37191.htm Available online] Accessed 1 February 2006. Peru, the European Union,Council Common Position 2005/936/CFSP. 14 March 2005. [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2005/l_340/l_34020051223en00800084.pdf Available online]. Accessed 27 September 2006. and CanadaGovernment of Canada. "Listed Entities". [http://www.psepc.gc.ca/prg/ns/le/cle-en.asp#sl36 Available online] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061119150657/http://www.psepc.gc.ca/prg/ns/le/cle-en.asp |date=19 November 2006}}. Accessed 27 September 2006. likewise regard Shining Path as a terrorist group and prohibit providing funding or other financial support.

According to Peru's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2003, the actions of the Shining Path claimed between 31,331 and 37,840 lives between 1980 and 2000.Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación. [http://www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/pdf/Tomo%20-%20ANEXOS/ANEXO%202.pdf Annex 2] Page 17. Retrieved 4 December 2019.

The National Liberation Movement – Tupamaros was a Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group in Uruguay that operated between the 1960s and early 1970s and was inspired by the Cuban Revolution.{{Cite web |date=2016-12-04 |title=Las aguas que agitó y dividió Fidel |url=https://www.elpais.com.uy/que-pasa/las-aguas-que-agito-y-dividio-fidel |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=El Pais |language=en}} However, unlike the latter, the guerrilla warfare in Uruguay was active in urban areas.{{Cite journal |last=Demasi |first=Carlos |url=https://journals.openedition.org/atlante/11272 |title=Los "tupamaros", la guerrilla "Robin Hood" |journal=Atlante |year=2016|issue=4 |pages=9–28 |doi=10.4000/atlante.11272 }} The organization was involved in weapons theft, murder, kidnapping and bombings.{{Cite web |title=Tupamaros (1): el origen |url=https://www.elobservador.com.uy/nota/tupamaros-1-el-origen-2020101621310 |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=El Observador |language=es-UY}} Major attacks include the bombing of the Bowling Club in Carrasco, the Taking of Pando and the murder of farmer Pascasio Báez.{{Cite web |date=2023-04-07 |title=Reparaciones a las víctimas de la guerrilla pueden superar los US$ 10 millones |url=https://www.elpais.com.uy/informacion/politica/reparaciones-a-las-victimas-de-la-guerrilla-pueden-superar-los-us-10-millones |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=EL PAIS |language=es-UY}}{{Cite web |date=2024-08-18 |title=La "toma de Pando" |url=https://www.elpais.com.uy/opinion/ecos/la-toma-de-pando-15-8 |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=El Pais |language=es-UY}} By 1972, most of its members had already been imprisoned after the Armed Forces were charged with the fight against insurgency.{{Cite web |title=Tupamaros (2): la demanda autoritaria |url=https://www.elobservador.com.uy/nota/tupamaros-2-la-demanda-autoritaria-20201023212434 |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=El Observador |language=es-UY}}

The activity of the MLN-Tupamaros in urban areas inspired other far-left movements, mainly in West Germany, where the 2 June Movement, the Red Army Faction and Tupamaros West-Berlin emerged.{{cite book |last=Hauser |first=Dorothea |title=1968 in Europe: a history of protest and activism, 1956-1977 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2008 |editor=Martin Klimke, Joachim Scharloth |pages=271–72 |chapter=Terrorism}} The kidnapping of CIA officer Dan Mitrione was depicted in the 1972 film State of Siege.{{Cite news |last=EFE |date=1985-04-28 |title=El filme 'Estado de sitio', estrenado en Uruguay tras 12 años de censura |url=https://elpais.com/diario/1985/04/28/cultura/483487214_850215.html |access-date=2024-09-15 |work=El País |language=es |issn=1134-6582}}

{{Missing information|section|the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam|date=January 2025}}

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.

File:Naxalite Movement 1990s.jpg in the 1990s.]]

The Indian government has engaged in a conflict with the left-wing extremist groups since the late 1960s.{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7799247 |title=India's Naxalites: A spectre haunting India |newspaper=The Economist |date=12 April 2006 |access-date=13 July 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100523074605/http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7799247 |archive-date=23 May 2010 }} The insurgency started after the 1967 Naxalbari uprising and the subsequent split of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leading to the creation of a Marxist–Leninist faction.{{cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/history-of-naxalism/story-4f1rZukARGYn3qHOqDMEbM.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814222816/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/history-of-naxalism/story-4f1rZukARGYn3qHOqDMEbM.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 August 2016|title=History of Naxalism|work=The Hindustan Times|access-date=1 June 2024}} The faction splintered into various groups supportive of Maoist ideology, claiming to fight a rural rebellion and people's war against the government.{{cite web |url=http://mccaine.org/2009/06/24/communists-fight-in-india/ |title=Communists Fight in India « Notes & Commentaries |date=24 June 2009 |work=Mccaine.org |access-date=13 July 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727073230/http://mccaine.org/2009/06/24/communists-fight-in-india/ |archive-date=27 July 2011 }}

The armed wing of the Maoists is called the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army.{{cite web|work=Uppsala Conflict Data Program|title=Conflict Encyclopedia, India: government, Government of India – CPI-Maoist, Actor Information, CPI-Maoists|access-date=29 May 2013|url=http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=74®ionSelect=6-Central_and_Southern_Asia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203162633/http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=74®ionSelect=6-Central_and_Southern_Asia |archive-date=3 February 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://us.rediff.com/news/2003/oct/02spec.htm |title=Primer: Who are the Naxalites?: Rediff.com news |work=Rediff |access-date=13 July 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504151532/http://us.rediff.com/news/2003/oct/02spec.htm |archive-date=4 May 2009 }} They have conducted multiple attacks on the security forces and government workers.{{cite news|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/07/200971214640798718.html |title=Maoist attacks kill Indian police |work=Al Jazeera |date=15 March 2007 |access-date=13 July 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713012830/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/07/200971214640798718.html |archive-date=13 July 2009}} The influence zone of the Naxalites is called the red corridor, which consists of about 25 districts in Central and East India in 2021.{{cite news|last=Bhattacharjee|first=Sumit|date=26 June 2021|title=When Greyhounds struck in Andhra Pradesh's fading red zone|newspaper=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/when-greyhounds-struck-in-andhra-pradeshs-fading-red-zone/article34979972.ece|access-date=19 November 2021|issn=0971-751X|archive-date=19 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119064558/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/when-greyhounds-struck-in-andhra-pradeshs-fading-red-zone/article34979972.ece|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/deaths-in-naxal-attacks-down-by-21-shah-at-cms-meeting/articleshow/86543018.cms|title=Deaths in Naxal attacks down by 21%|newspaper=The Times of India|date=26 September 2021|access-date=1 June 2024|archive-date=26 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926222634/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/deaths-in-naxal-attacks-down-by-21-shah-at-cms-meeting/articleshow/86543018.cms|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title= Naxal affected Districts|url=https://crpf.gov.in/writereaddata/images/pdf/815072021.pdf|work=Government of India|access-date=1 July 2021}} The insurgency reached its peak in the late 2000s with almost 180 affected districts and has been on the decline since then due to the counter-insurgency actions and development plans formulated by the Government.{{cite web|url=http://www.pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=50833|title=Naxal Problem needs a holistic approach|work=Press Information Bureau|access-date=8 August 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090908173208/http://www.pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=50833|archive-date=8 September 2009|df=dmy-all}} Naxalites have engaged in numerous terrorist attacks and human rights violations in India's Red Corridor.{{cite web|last=Gupta|first=Kanchan|title=Naxals, India's enemy within|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/nov/25kanch.htm|publisher=Rediff|access-date=16 November 2010|date=25 November 2004}}{{cite web |date=17 August 2006 |title=India's Naxalites: A spectre haunting India |url=http://www.economist.com/node/7799247?story_id=7799247 |access-date=16 November 2010 |publisher=The Economist}} Armed Naxalite movements are considered India's largest internal security threat,{{cite web|title=Indian Maoist Violence|url=http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/IN_MAO.htm?v=in_detail|publisher=Reuters|access-date=16 November 2010|date=27 August 2008}} and these groups have been declared as terrorist organisations by the Indian government.{{cite web|url=http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/maoist/terrorist_outfits/Janashakti.htm|title=Maoist Communist Centre – Extremism, India|work=South Asia Terrorism Portal|access-date=1 April 2015|archive-date=26 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426151124/https://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/maoist/terrorist_outfits/Janashakti.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/maoist/terrorist_outfits/PWG.htm|title=People's War Group – Extremism, India|work=South Asia Terrorism Portal|access-date=1 April 2015|archive-date=25 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125074700/https://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/maoist/terrorist_outfits/PWG.htm|url-status=live}}

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 1994 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 agriculture.{{Cite web|url=https://www.viasatprovider.com/|title=Viasat Internet {{!}} Provider of Fast Satellite Internet|website=ViaSat Internet Provider|language=en-US|access-date=17 July 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/nepal/terroristoutfits/index.html|title=Nepal Terrorist Groups - Maoist Insurgents|website=www.satp.org|access-date=17 July 2019}} In Nepal, attacks against civilian populations occurred as part of Maoist strategy, leading Amnesty International to state:

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, Chitwan on 21 April. CPN (Maoist) cadres also reportedly threw a bomb at students taking classes in a school in Khara, Rukum district.{{Cite web|url=http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA310542005?|title=Nepal: Children caught in the conflict - Amnesty International|date=2005-11-07|access-date=2019-07-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051107070737/http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA310542005|archive-date=2005-11-07|url-status=live}}

The Communist Party of the Philippines has been responsible for several attacks on government and civilian targets. It was founded in 1968 by Jose Maria Sison, four years prior to Martial Law. They aimed to overthrow the Philippine President and the national government, and to change Philippine society, including a purge of the nation's elite class, a state takeover of private industry, and collectivization of agriculture through National Democracy.{{cite web|title=Foreign Terrorist Organizations|url=https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations/|work=U.S. Department of State|access-date=18 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190515204913/https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations/|archive-date=15 May 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/5bcf1f4d4.html|title=Refworld {{!}} Country Reports on Terrorism 2017 – Foreign Terrorist Organizations: Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army|last=Refugees|first=United Nations High Commissioner for|website=Refworld|access-date=11 February 2020}}{{Cite web|date=23 September 2001|title=Executive Order 13224 Terrorist Designations Under Amended Executive Order To Modernize Sanctions To Combat Terrorism|url=https://www.state.gov/executive-order-13224/|access-date=28 September 2020|website=US Department of State|publisher=Bureau of Counterterrorism}} The CPP's armed wing, New People's Army, is responsible for attacking the military in the Philippine Mountains. Between 2002 and 2005, these groups were designated as terrorists by the United States and the European Union.{{Cite web|date=8 August 2019|title=The Council of the European Union on updating the list of persons, groups and entities subject to Articles 2, 3 and 4 of Common Position 2001/931/CFSP on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism, and repealing Decision (CFSP) 2019/25|url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32019D1341&from=en|access-date=28 September 2020|website=Office Journal of the European Union}}

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.Atkins, pp. 157–58

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.Plushinsky, p. 16{{cite journal | last=Abadie | first=Alberto | title=Poverty, Political Freedom, and the Roots of Terrorism | journal=American Economic Review | publisher=American Economic Association | volume=96 | issue=2 | date=2006-04-01 | issn=0002-8282 | doi=10.1257/000282806777211847 | pages=50–56| url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w10859.pdf }}

Action Directe (AD) was active in France between 1979 and 1987. Between 1979 and 1985, they concentrated on non-lethal bombings and strafings 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.Pluchinsky, p. 134 The French government has banned the group.{{cite news |publisher=BBC News |title=Europe wary of banning parties |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2217919.stm |date=28 August 2002 |access-date=5 December 2007}}

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.Atkins, pp. 62–63

The First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Groups (GRAPO) was a Maoist terrorist group in Spain that was founded in 1975.{{cite book|last1=Alexander|first1=Yonah |last2=Pluchinsky|first2=Dennis A. |title=Europe's red terrorists: the fighting communist organizations|edition=1st|date=1 October 1992|publisher=Routledge; 1 edition ()|isbn=978-0-7146-3488-3|page=ix}} Since its inception until 2007, it assassinated 84 people, including police, military personnel, judges and civilians; either by bombings or shootings. The group has committed a number of kidnappings, initially for political reasons, later on, mainly for extortion. Its last attack was committed in 2006, when GRAPO militants shot dead Ana Isabel Herrero, the owner of a temporary work agency in Zaragoza.{{cite web|url=http://www.libertaddigital.com:6681/noticias/noticia_1276307643.html|title=Libertad Digital: El último grupo de los GRAPO tenía previsto volver a atentar|access-date=11 February 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111226121106/http://www.libertaddigital.com:6681/noticias/noticia_1276307643.html|archive-date=26 December 2011}}

File:Firebomb damage.jpg damage in Belfast, Northern Ireland during the Troubles.]]

The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) is an Irish republican communist paramilitary group formed on 10 December 1974, during "the Troubles". It seeks to remove Northern Ireland from British control and create a socialist republic encompassing all of Ireland. It is the paramilitary wing of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP).

The INLA was founded by former members of the Official Irish Republican Army who opposed that group's ceasefire. It was initially known as the "People's Liberation Army" or "People's Republican Army". The INLA waged a paramilitary campaign against the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in Northern Ireland. It was also active to a lesser extent in the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain. High-profile attacks carried out by the INLA include the Droppin Well bombing, the 1994 Shankill Road killings, and the assassinations of Airey Neave in 1979 and Billy Wright in 1997. It also carried out some bombings and robberies in mainland Europe in collaboration with West German militant group Revolutionary Cells and the French Action Directe.Jack Holland & Henry McDonald, INLA – Deadly Divisions, 1994, p.203 However, it was smaller and less active than the main republican paramilitary group, the Provisional IRA. It was also weakened by feuds and internal tensions. Members of the group used the cover names People's Liberation Army (PLA), People's Republican Army (PRA){{Cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/cgi-bin/dyndeaths.pl?querytype=date&day=31&month=12&year=1975|title=CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths|last=Sutton|first=Malcolm|website=cain.ulst.ac.uk|access-date=17 July 2018}} and Catholic Reaction Force (CRF){{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch83.htm#201183|title=CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1983|website=cain.ulst.ac.uk|access-date=1 January 2019}} for attacks its volunteers carried out but the INLA did not want to claim responsibility for.{{Cite web|title=Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)|url=https://fas.org/irp/world/para/inla.htm|access-date=2021-03-24|website=fas.org}} The Irish People's Liberation Organisation (IPLO) was a breakaway group formed in 1986 and forcibly disbanded by the Provisional IRA (PIRA) in 1992.{{cite book |last1=Holland |first1=Jack |last2=McDonald |first2=Henry |title=INLA Deadly Divisions 1994 |date=1 January 1994 |publisher=Torc |isbn=978-1898142058 |pages=341–343 |edition=1st }}

The INLA is a Proscribed Organisation in the United Kingdom under the Terrorism Act 2000 and an illegal organisation in the Republic of Ireland.{{cite act |title=Terrorism Act 2000 |number=11 |year=2000 |article=2 |articletype=Schedule |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/schedule/2}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.ie/en/organisation/department-of-justice/?referrer=http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/hederman+report.pdf/Files/hederman+report.pdf|title=Department of Justice|website=www.gov.ie}}

The Popular Forces 25 April (FP-25) was formed in Portugal under the leadership of Lt. Col. Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, who lead the Carnation Revolution in 1974.{{Cite web |date=2021-08-17 |title=Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho obituary |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/17/otelo-saraiva-de-carvalho-obituary |access-date=2022-02-13 |website=The Guardian |language=en}} It was a far-left terrorist group operating in Portugal between 1980 and 1987.{{Cite web|last=Castelo-Branco|first=Manuel|title=À lei da bala. Os 25 anos sobre a amnistia às Forças Populares-25 de Abril|url=https://observador.pt/especiais/a-lei-da-bala-os-25-anos-sobre-a-amnistia-as-forcas-populares-25-de-abril/|access-date=2022-02-13|website=Observador|language=pt-PT}} Most of its members had previously been active in the Revolutionary Brigades (Brigadas Revolucionárias), an armed group with links to the Revolutionary Party of the Proletariat (Partido Revolucionário do Proletariado) extinguished in 1978. Over 7 years, FP-25 were responsible for 19 deaths, including a four-month-old baby, a General Director of Prison Service, a dissident/repentant terrorist, several National Republican Guards (GNR) soldiers and five terrorists killed during robberies or clashes with security forces. The violence was partially stopped in June 1984, with a secret police operation under a code name "Orion," which resulted in the arrest of most of its leaders and operatives. They would be later tried in October 1986.{{Cite news |last=Schumacher |first=Edward |date=1985-07-22 |title=HERO OF PORTUGAL REVOLUTION FACES TERRORISM TRIAL TODAY |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/22/world/hero-of-portugal-revolution-faces-terrorism-trial-today.html |access-date=2022-02-13 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

File:Aftermath of the 1981 Red Army Faction bombing.jpg bombing.]]

The Red Army Faction (RAF), which developed out of the Baader-Meinhof Group in Germany, carried out a series of terrorist attacks in the 1970s and remained active for over 20 years. The RAF was organized into small isolated cells, and had connections with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Carlos the Jackal.Kushner, p. 148 Although the group's leaders, including Gudrun Ensslin, Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof were arrested in 1972, it carried out major attacks, including the kidnapping and murder of Hanns-Martin Schleyer, president of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations and of the Federation of German Industries, and the hijacking of the Lufthansa Flight 181 in the so-called "German Autumn" of 1977.

{{See also|Years of Lead (Italy)}}

The Red Brigades were founded in August 1970, mostly by former members of the Italian Communist Youth Federation who had been expelled from the parent party for extremist views.Jamieson, A., "Identity and Morality in the Italian Red Brigades" in Terrorism and Political Violence, 1990, pp. 508–15 The largest terrorist group in Italy, its aim was to violently overthrow the government and replace it with a communist system.{{cite book|last=Wilkinson|first=Paul |title=Terrorism versus democracy: the liberal state response|edition=2nd|date=29 June 2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-38478-0|page=222}} Its members were responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro, a prominent member of Christian Democracy who served twice as prime minister of Italy.{{cite news |last1=Willan |first1=Philip |title=Moro's ghost haunts political life |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/may/09/italy.worlddispatch |access-date=22 February 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=9 May 2003}}

The Revolutionary Organization 17 November, also known as 17N or N17, was a Greek urban terrorist organization named in commemoration of a 1973 mass demonstration and riot against the military junta. By 1975 the group had killed 23 people, including U.S. officials, NATO officials and Greek politicians, magistrates and businessmen. Attempts by the Greek police, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and Scotland Yard to investigate the group were unsuccessful. The group was captured in 2002, after one of its members was wounded by a bomb he was carrying.Atkins, p. 278 It has been recognized as a terrorist organization by the Greek State, the US and international law enforcement agencies.{{cite web|url=http://www.america.gov/st/pubs-english/2006/January/20060120111344atlahtnevel0.3114282.html|access-date=9 January 2009|title=Misinformation about "Gladio/Stay Behind" Networks Resurfaces|date=20 January 2006|author=Leventhal, Todd|publisher=Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301011041/http://www.america.gov/st/pubs-english/2006/January/20060120111344atlahtnevel0.3114282.html|archive-date=1 March 2010}}[http://www.nctc.gov/site/other/fto.html Foreign Terrorist Organizations], The National Counterterrorism Center[http://www.astinomia.gr/index.php?option=ozo_content&perform=view&id=1317&Itemid=171&lang= Press release], Hellenic Police {{in lang|el}}

The Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front is a militant Marxist–Leninist party in Turkey. The US, UK and EU categorize it as a terrorist organization. As of 2007, the Counter-Terrorism and Operations Department of Directorate General for Security list it among the 12 active terrorist organizations in Turkey.{{cite web|url=http://www.egm.gov.tr/temuh/terorgrup1.html |date=27 January 2005 |access-date=15 August 2008 |title=TÜRKİYE'DE HALEN FAALİYETLERİNE DEVAM EDEN BAŞLICA TERÖR ÖRGÜTLERİ |publisher=Terörle Mücadele ve Harekat Dairesi Başkanlığı |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114042731/http://www.egm.gov.tr/temuh/terorgrup1.html|archive-date=14 January 2013}} It is one of the 44 names listed in the 2008 U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations,{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/08/103392.htm |access-date=15 August 2008 |title=Foreign Terrorist Organizations |date=8 April 2008 |author=Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism |publisher=U.S. Department of State}} one of the 48 groups and entities to which the EU's Common Position 2001–931/CFSP on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism applies{{cite web |title=Council Common Position 2008/586/CFSP updating Common Position 2001/931/CFSP on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism and repealing Common Position 2007/871/CFSP |url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:188:0071:0076:EN:PDF}} {{small|(52.3 KB)}}, Official Journal of the European Union L 188/71, 16 July 2008 and one of the 45 international terrorist organisations in the list of Proscribed Terrorist Groups of the UK Home Office.{{cite web|url=http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/security/terrorism-and-the-law/terrorism-act/proscribed-groups |access-date=15 August 2008 |title=Proscribed terrorist groups |publisher=Home Office |work=Terrorism Act 2000 |author=Communications Directorate |date=4 October 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224134701/http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/security/terrorism-and-the-law/terrorism-act/proscribed-groups |archive-date=24 December 2008}}

• Communist terrorism
• Eco-terrorism
• Left-wing extremism and anti-government in the United States
• Vanguardism
• Direct action
• Insurrectionary anarchism
• Illegalism

{{Reflist|2}}

{{refbegin|2}}

• Atkins, Stephen E. Encyclopedia of modern worldwide extremists and extremist groups. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004. {{ISBN|0-313-32485-9}}
• Aubrey, Stefan M. The new dimension of international terrorism. Zurich: vdf Hochschulverlag AG, 2004. {{ISBN|3-7281-2949-6}}
• Brockhoff, Sarah, Krieger, Tim and Meierrieks, Daniel, "Looking Back on Anger: Explaining the Social Origins of Left-Wing and Nationalist Separatist Terrorism in Western Europe, 1970–2007" (2012). APSA 2012 Annual Meeting Paper. Available at SSRN: [http://ssrn.com/abstract=2107193 Looking Back on Anger: Explaining the Social Origins of Left-Wing and Nationalist Separatist Terrorism in Western Europe, 1970-2007]
• Bush, George (task force). Terrorist Group Profiles. DIANE Publishing, 1989. {{ISBN|1-56806-864-6}}
• Kushner, Harvey W. Encyclopedia of terrorism. London: Sage Publications Ltd., 2003. {{ISBN|0-7619-2408-6}}
• Moghadam, Assaf. The roots of terrorism. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2006. {{ISBN|0-7910-8307-1}}
• Pluchinsky, Dennis A. "Western Europes's red terrorists: the fighting communist organizations". In Yonah Alexander and Dennis A. Pluchinsky (Eds.), Europe's red terrorists: the fighting communist organizations. Oxford: Frank Cass and Company, 1992. {{ISBN|978-0-7146-3488-3}}
• Smith, Brent L. Terrorism in America: pipe bombs and pipe dreams. Albany: SUNY Press, 1994 {{ISBN|0-7914-1760-3}}

{{refend}}

{{Commons category|Left-wing terrorism}}

{{Terrorism topics}}