Hezbollah
Hezbollah is an Islamic organization formed after the attack of Lebanon in 1982 by the Israeli military. It is a radical resistant organization with the aim of liberalizing the occupied parts of Lebanon like Jerusalem and driving out Israel’s forces in order to establish Islamic rule. Hezbollah started a base in Lebanon in 1982. It has succeeded and expanded due to the use of suicide bombing. Hezbollah has strong ties with Iran and Syria. Iran helped Hezbollah in1982 with 1500 soldiers in resisting Israel’s invasion.
Hezbollah has been involved in many anti-US and Israel terrorist attacks, including the bombing of the Us Embassy and marine barrack in Beirut in 1983. Members of Hezbollah hijacked a TWA flight in1985 in which one US national was killed. In the late 1980s, the organization also caused terror by kidnapping the US and other people who were in Lebanon. Hezbollah was responsible for the attack on Israel’s Embassy in Argentina in 1992 and an Israel cultural center in Buenos Aeries in 1994.
Hezbollah acts against Israel mainly through smuggling terrorists and weapons, establishing terrorist groups in Israel, and offering financial support to Palestinian militias. Hezbollah has a way of controlling terrorism activities in its territories by use of other terror organizations in foreign countries. This arrangement enhances their attack on Israel, proper funding of terrorists, coordination, and supply of weapons to the terrorist.
Hezbollah’s political goal is to drive out Israel forces from Lebanon territory, especially from Shab’s ranches, and to protect Lebanon from Israel and the US. Lebanon’s government had legitimized Hezbollah since it referred to it as a resistance group. Hezbollah has been ambushing Israeli soldiers during attacks; they exchange them back with Arab prisoners in Israel.
It has been ascertained that Hezbollah had about 7500 fighters, 300 to 400 main fighters, but the number can increase within hours upon need. The group has small arms, especially machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and Katyusha rockets. Hezbollah has its operations in Bekaa valley, located south of Beirut; it also has bases in Europe, Africa, and elsewhere.
Great Eastern Islamic Raiders Front (IBDA-C)
The group was formed as a bloc of a larger group ‘Islamic salvation party in the mid-1970s. The group was formed to revolutionize Islam in Turkey by making Turkey an Islamic state. Its political goal is changing Turkey’s leadership from secular to religious. It aimed at achieving its goals through violent means. It has its doctrines similar to those of left-wing terrorists and clearly differs from the Iranian Shiite revolution.
The group operates within the territories of Turkey. The group has no leader and operates under the guidance of one ideology, “Great East’. The founder of the group, Salih Mirzabeyoglu, is currently imprisoned for trying to change the constitution. It has various factions which operate independently on organizing terrorism activities.
IBDA-C carries out attacks without personal injury directed towards secular groups and individuals. It has been linked to civilian attacks in churches, TV stations, media houses, banks, hotels, and shops. The group communicates amongst members during attacks, and the group is believed to take many responsibilities for terrorist attacks in Turkey.
Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ)
EIJ was founded in the late 1970s by the merger of a group of Islamic groups lead by Mohammed Abd al-Salam Farraj in Cairo. Currently, Ayman al-Zawahiri is the group’s spiritual leader. He is a close friend to Osama Bin Laden. The group was previously known as Islamic Jihad. The main political aim was to change the Egyptian government and establish an Islamic state and eventually spread Islam to the whole world. The group has collaborated with international terrorist groups in the front against Arabian countries’ influence from the West. It has denounced affiliation to Israel and the US.
EIJ has been linked to various terrorist attacks; the assassination of President Sadat in 1981, assassination attempts to Egyptian prime minister and interior minister in 1993, the bombing of the Egyptian Embassy in Albania, an assassination attempt on President Hosni Mubarak in 1995, and a failed bombing of the US Embassy in Albania in 1998. EIJ is also linked to the US Embassies bombing in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
EIJ is said to have strong links to al-Qaeda. Many al-Qaeda leaders have Egyptian origin. Bin Laden even promoted two EIJ leaders to be echelons in al-Qaeda since they were targeted terrorists by anti-terrorists. Members of EIJ are suspected of having military spatial skills and are competent in military planning and strategizing. The group is funded by al-Qaeda, and later the two groups merged in 2001. EIJ members and al-Qaeda were the terrorist groups behind the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center and pentagon. One of its members, Mohammed Atta, was the one who flew an airliner to the World Trade Center.
Religious terrorism
Terrorism takes a variety of forms. There are two major forms of secular and religious terrorism. Religious terrorism is a kind of political violence propelled by a populist belief or faith. Acts committed in pursuance of religious terrorism goals are rewarded according to their faith. Religious terrorism has become the major model for political violence in the current world. Religious terrorism is the most common and has the most adverse destruction linked to it. According to Bruce Hoffman, a religious terrorist takes violence to be a religious duty carried out to accomplish a theological urgency. Such terrorists are not constrained by anything, and their terrorist deeds can take any manner they wish. Secular terrorists, unlike religious terrorists, carry out singled-out killings that achieve their aim. Religious terrorists do not mind about their large number of casualties, but they mind about the achievement of their objective. They believe their actions originate from the doctrines of their religion under the guidance of their religious leaders. These leaders have the responsibility to give the go-ahead by approving terrorist acts.
Secular terrorism is widely believed to originate from some civil differences that have, in turn, affected them. They use violence in order to push for changes to take place or for the purpose of instilling a new system. Secular terrorists may have been sidelined by a majority group, and by engaging in violence, they may force the oppressing group to incorporate them into their system. While religious terrorists consider themselves as different from their adversaries and their violent act will eliminate their enemies. This indifference can be attributed to the intense damage they cause, unlike the secular terrorist who carries out mild attacks on their target. Secular terrorists, in many cases, are usually acting on behalf of a supportive group upon whom they need to be appealing, unlike religious terrorist groups who have to appeal to themselves.
The history of religious terrorism dates back to many nations, civilizations, and empires where those who have practiced it engage in violence in promoting their religion. Religious terrorism has been carried out by militia groups, individuals, and even governments.
The quality of violence for religious terrorists takes an unconstrained scale of terrorist violence and results in an unconstrained choice of weapons and tactics, while secular terrorists employ a controlled scale of violence and results in a choice of weapons and attack methodology. Religious terrorists are true believers in their movement, which results in a completely reconfigured social order. Secular terrorists are largely viewed as liberators whose objectives are to rebuild society or restructure it.