Terrorist group(s) In 9 editions of 36.

aim(s):

drive US Government personnel, US business people, and other US influences out of Kenya and, ultimately, establish a pan-Islamic caliphate under a strict Salafi Muslim interpretation

area(s) of operation:

• maintains a limited presence;
• on 7 August 1998, operatives detonated truck bombs that exploded and killed and injured scores of workers and severely damaged the US Embassy in Nairobi, killing approximately 213 people and injuring a few thousand others;
• almost all of the dead and injured were Kenyans

aim(s):

avenge Kenya's 2011 decision to send troops to Somalia to combat al-Shabaab; establish Islamic rule in Kenya and Somalia's border regions

area(s) of operation:

• maintains an operational and recruitment presence, mostly in the northeast;
• on 2 April 2015, gunmen stormed Garissa University and shot and killed 148 people and injured approximately 80;
• gunmen took over 700 students hostage and killed those who identified as Christian, making it one of Kenya's deadliest attacks;
• on 21 September 2013, at the upscale Westgate Mall in Nairobi, gunmen injured 200 people and killed six soldiers and police officers and approximately 65 civilians, including foreign nationals from 13 countries;
• leadership claimed the attack on the mall was in retaliation for Kenya's support for the African Union Mission for Somalia, a regional peacekeeping force operated by the African Union with the approval of the UN

Published as “Terrorist groups - home based”

aim(s):

revive the movement to establish a Tamil homeland

area(s) of operation:

• sustains efforts primarily in the east to revive the movement and, occasionally, to plot attacks;
• despite LTTE's military defeat at the hands of the Sri Lankan Government in 2009, LTTE remains capable of raising funds, mostly from the global Tamil diaspora;
• members remain operational, such as the LTTE operatives who were arrested in India in 2014 for plotting imminent attacks;
• authorities continue in 2017 to pursue leaders, operatives, and supporters for arrest;
• prior to its 2009 defeat, LTTE employed an integrated battlefield insurgent strategy targeting Sri Lanka's key installations and senior political and military leaders;
• since LTTE began its armed campaign in Sri Lanka in 1983, clashes between government forces and LTTE have resulted in an estimated 300,000 internally displaced persons, a million Tamils leaving the country, and 100,000 deaths, including an estimated 200 Tamil political leaders that LTTE has assassinated over the years

Published as “Terrorist groups - home based”

aim(s):

• overthrow the Yemen Government and, ultimately, establish a regional Islamic caliphate;
• eradicate Western influence and presence from Yemen and the rest of the Arabian Peninsula

area(s) of operation:

• a core al-Qa'ida affiliate that was headquartered in Al Mukalla, Hadramawt Governorate, until Yemeni forces and their allies drove AQAP from the city in April 2016;
• most active in southern, eastern, and central Yemen, especially in Abyan, Al Baydah, Hadramawt, Sabwah, and Ma'rib governorates;
• conducts ongoing attacks against Yemeni Government forces, officials, and facilities and Western embassies, diplomats, tourists, and Shia Muslims, oil facilities, and merchant ships, as well as Western and Saudi Arabian interests;
• assessed in 2015 to have up to 4,000 members

Published as “Terrorist groups - foreign based”

aim(s):

overthrow the Yemen Government and, ultimately, establish a pan-Islamic caliphate under a strict Salafi Muslim interpretation of Sharia

area(s) of operation:

• operational throughout Yemen,
• in collaboration with its affiliate organization,
• al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)

aim(s):

replace the Yemen Government with an Islamic state and implement ISIL's strict interpretation of Sharia

area(s) of operation:

• operational primarily in 'Adan and the capital, Sanaa, where operatives conduct attacks against Shia Muslims and government facilities and personnel;
• claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack in to 'Adan, where a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device on 29 August 2016, killing approximately 70 new recruits standing in line to register to join the military;
• suicide bombers detonated explosives on 20 March 2015 inside two Shia Muslim mosques in Sanaa, killing at least 137 worshippers and injuring over 300, which marked the first attack ISIL had claimed in Yemen;
• actively recruits Sunni Muslim youths;
• ISIL refers to Yemen as its Wilayat Sanaa;
• ISIL-Yemen was placed in the US State Department's designated global terror category under Executive Order 13224 on 19 May 2016

aim(s):

• disrupt Israel's security in Argentina and,
• ultimately,
• destroy the state of Israel

area(s) of operation:

• maintains a limited presence;
• on 18 July 1994, an operative drove a bomb-laden car into the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association building in Buenos Aires, killing 85 civilians and injuring 300 more;
• on 17 March 1992, operatives detonated a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device in front of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 people and injuring at least 270 others;
• Hizballah's leadership stated that the bombing was in retaliation for Israel killing its secretary general, Abbas al-MUSAWI on 16 February 1992

Published as “Terrorist groups - home based”

aim(s):

represent the rural poor against the nation's wealthy and block the privatization of national resources

area(s) of operation:

• the nation's second-largest insurgent group operates mainly in the rural and mountainous areas in the northeast, especially Arauca Province, and is active in the northern and southwestern regions and along the borders with Venezuela and Ecuador;
• after lengthy behind-the-scenes discussions, peace talks with the Colombian Government officially began on 7 February 2017 in Quito, Ecuador, with Colombia releasing imprisoned members to serve as peace negotiators and ELN releasing former congressman Odin Sanchez, who ELN has held since April 2016;
• as of June 2017, negotiators on both sides remained committed to moving toward a bilateral ceasefire, on the condition that ELN cease and desist engaging in kidnappings, extortion, and other illegal practices;
• claimed responsibility for the 19 February 2017 bombing near the Santamaria Bullring in Bogota that killed one police officer and injured 26 police officers and at least four civilians;
• on 25 January 2017, an international narcotics investigation in Colombia led to the seizure of just under 4 metric tons of cocaine, the largest drug seizure ever involving the ELN;
• the group has a long history of engaging in narcotics production and trafficking, extortion, and kidnappings for ransom to fund operations;
• has increased its revenue from the narcotics trade in 2017;
• Colombian forces continue to pursue leaders and members, especially those who oppose peace talks and are conducting lethal attacks on military and security personnel or civilians;
• historically, group leaders directed attacks against primarily Colombian political, military, security, and economic figures and targeted foreign citizens for kidnappings for ransom;
• assessed in 2017 to have 1,500-2,500 members

aim(s):

• enter the political arena to change Colombia's economic model, nationalize industries like oil and mining, and renegotiate free trade deals;
• historically, FARC's aim has been to install a Marxist-Leninist regime in Colombia through a violent revolution

area(s) of operation:

• headquartered in Uribe, Narino Department, in the southwest on the border with Ecuador and the Pacific Ocean shores;
• recognized as the nation's largest insurgent group, with less than 10,000 members in recent years;
• active mostly in Colombia's center, northeast, and mountainous southwest;
• historically, operatives have targeted Colombian political, military, and economic figures and structures for attack and foreign citizens for kidnappings for ransom;
• on 29 August 2016, a bilateral ceasefire went into effect between FARC leaders and the Colombian Government, followed by peace talks between FARC leader Rodrigo LONDONO and Colombia's President Juan Manuel SANTOS;
• on 30 November 2016, the Colombian Congress approved a peace accord between the FARC and Colombian Government;
• both sides remain committed to peace;
• FARC has commenced disarming in UN-monitored zones, with an estimated 7,000 members turning in their weapons by mid-March 2017 and preparing to reintegrate into civilian life;
• in exchange for disarmament, the government will allow FARC to form an official political party and integrate fighters into society through measures such as funding education and providing housing and jobs;
• FARC is striving to be ready to participate in 2018 elections as a political party;
• an estimated 300 FARC members remain resistant to demobilization, including the Armando Rios First Front's estimated 200 fighters;
• the five-decade conflict resulted in tens of thousands missing persons, massive land seizures, an estimated 5.7 million people displaced from their homes—primarily peasants, and at least 220,000 Colombian lives lost, including thousands of soldiers and police personnel;
• FARC leaders have vowed to cease participating in the narcotics trade, which has been the group's principal source of revenue for the past several years;
• an increasing number of members have defected recently to use their heavy-weapons skills to serve South American drug traffickers