There is, at least for the time being, no official definition at the international level about what terrorism properly is, but it can be considered as a terrorist any act or organization that uses violent or threatening methods to achieve a certain objective political. Thus, kidnappings, attacks on public and private places, air strikes, murders or other forms of aggression can be related to terrorism.
As we shall see, definitions of terrorism are so imprecise that some groups are considered terrorists by some countries and not others. The emergence of these groups has been a tonic in recent times, especially with the emergence of the current context of New world order. However, the performance of these organizations is old, such as the attack in Sarajevo in 1914, organized by the organization Black hand and which culminated in the death of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Francisco Ferdinando.
Next, we will highlight the organizations that are most frequently mentioned as the biggest terrorist groups today, that is, only those groups that are still active. It's not a
ranking, given that it is difficult to say which group is more important or more dangerous.al-Qaeda: With a name that means “the base” in Arabic, this is the best known terrorist organization in the world, especially because of the attacks on the towers of the World Trade Center, on September 11, 2001. It is mostly made up of fundamentalist Muslims and aims to eradicate Western influence in the Arab world. It was created in 1980 to defend the territory of Afghanistan against the USSR, which sought to expand socialist domination over the country. Initially, this organization had the support of the USA, but it broke relations with that country in the early 1990s.
Boko Haram: the meaning of its name is “non-Islamic education is sin”, sometimes also being translated as “Western education is sin”. Boko Haram is also an anti-Western organization that aims to implement the sharia (Islamic law) in the territory of Nigeria. It was founded in 2002, but gained greater notoriety in 2014 with the kidnapping of hundreds of young people, as well as a series of attacks that resulted in a large number of deaths. The most radical attacks began in 2009, when the then leader and founder, Mohammed Yusuf, was murdered by Nigerian police.
Hamas: despite not being considered a typical terrorist group by some analysts, Hamas — Arabic acronym for “Movement of Islamic Resistance” — is feared by most international organizations and states and is therefore classified as such. It operates in the territories of Palestine, aiming at the destruction of the State of Israel and the consolidation of the State of Palestine. Your armed wing is a front called the Al-Qassam, in addition to configuring itself as a political party that even won the elections in 2006 and which today controls the Gaza Strip. Hamas-supporting countries such as Turkey and Qatar do not regard the group as a terrorist entity, but rather as a legitimate political front.
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Islamic State (EIIS): the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (EIIS) is a jihadist terrorist group that operates in both countries, having emerged in 2013 as a dissidence from al-Qaeda, drawing inspiration from that group. Its leader is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who led al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2010 and who had participated in the resistance to the US invasion of Iraqi territory in 2003. The aim of EIIS is to create an Islamic emirate encompassing the territories of Syria and Iraq.
Taliban: The Taliban group is a political group operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan, also concerned with the application of the laws of the sharia. The group commanded Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, when the US invaded the country after the September 11 attacks. With the withdrawal of foreign troops, the group has been strengthening and regaining control of a large part of the Afghan territory.
ETA: its name is an abbreviation in Basque for “Basque Homeland and Liberty”. It is a separatist terrorist group that seeks to create a State with the independence of the Basque Country from Spain. Created in 1959, the group has organized several attacks throughout its history, but it has been gradually reducing its military arsenal, having a likely end in the coming years due to its disapproval by the Basque population, who want local independence without the use of weapons.
WILL: O Irish Republican Army it is also a separatist military group aimed at separating Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and annexing it to the Republic of Ireland. Emerging at the beginning of the 20th century and responsible for thousands of deaths through attacks, the group laid down arms in 2005 after a negotiation signed in the 1990s. Currently, the group uses political means for its objective, but it is still considered as a threat to international peace and security.
FARC: the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia is unique among the major terrorist groups in Colombia declaring itself on the left, having emerged in 1964 as an informal arm of the Communist Party of Colombia. Like Hamas, they are not considered a terrorist group by many countries. The FARC fights for control of Colombia, claiming to fight the ideological hegemony of the United States over the country, acting mainly in guerrillas, kidnappings and controlling drug trafficking. Recently, the organization has signed some peace agreements with the Colombian government under the diplomatic mediation of Venezuela.
In addition to these groups, there are dozens (or even hundreds) of other smaller terrorist groups around the world. Some other groups not mentioned here, such as the Emirate of the Caucasus and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, do not appear in the list above because they have been recently defeated or have lost their leaders or interrupted their actuations.
By Me. Rodolfo Alves Pena
