Paramilitary

Paramilitaries of Iran man a heavy machine gun during Iran-Iraq War

A paramilitary (sometimes listed as quasi-military) is a militarised force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces. Under the Law of Armed Conflict, a state may incorporate a paramilitary organization or armed agency (charged with police functions) into its armed forces. The other parties to a conflict have to be notified thereof.

The term paramilitary is subjective, depending on what is considered similar to a military force, and what status a force is considered to have. The nature of paramilitary forces therefore varies greatly according to the speaker and the context.

Types

Depending on context, "paramilitaries" may include:

Irregular forces

• Irregular military forces: militias, guerrillas, insurgents, and so forth

Auxiliary forces

• The auxiliary forces of a state's military
• State Defense Forces of individual US States
• The Rangers of Pakistan

Law enforcement

• Some kinds of police forces, e.g. auxiliary police
• The GSG-9 of Germany
• Gendarmeries, e.g. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Gendarmerie royale du Canada), Egyptian Central Security Forces and India's Central Reserve Police Force
• The National Security Guards of India
• The Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza of Italy
• Border guards, e.g. Russia's Border Guard Service
• Security forces of ambiguous military status, e.g. Russia's Internal Troops
• The Russian Spetsnaz
• Militarized police forces, e.g. Law enforcement officers and SWAT Teams of the United States
• The Mobile Brigade (Indonesia) of Indonesia
• The Special Task Force of Sri Lanka

Political

• Weimar paramilitary groups
• The Patriotic Guards of Communist Romania
• The Waffen, Schutzstaffel (SS), Sturmabteilung (SA) and Hitler Youth (HJ) (From 1940 onwards) of Nazi Germany
• The Red Guards of Maoist China
• In the United Kingdom, the term is often restricted to armed groups involved in the Northern Ireland Troubles, such as the Ulster Volunteer Force or the Provisional Irish Republican Army. Also the Irish National Liberation Army and the Irish Republican Army
• The Basij of Iran
• The Fedayeen Saddam of Ba'athist Iraq

Government agencies

• CIA Special Activities Center.
• DEA Special Response Team.

Home guards

• Volunteer Defence Corps, such as Volunteer Defence Corps in Thailand, Volunteer Defence Corps in Australia, Shanghai Volunteer Corps, and Royal Hong Kong Regiment.
• The Village Guards of Turkey

Civil Defence

• The fire departments of many countries and locales, although unarmed, are often organized in a manner similar to military or police forces.
• The Belgian Civiele Bescherming and Singapore Civil Defence Force.
• The Australian State Emergency Service.

See also

• Category:Paramilitary organizations
• Category:Rebel militia groups
• Paramilitary forces of India
• The Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
• Fourth-generation warfare
• Private army
• Death squad
• Violent non-state actor

Further reading

• Golkar, Saeid. (2012) Paramilitarization of the Economy: the Case of Iran's Basij Militia, Armed Forces & Society, Vol. 38, No. 4
• Golkar, Saeid. (2012). Organization of the Oppressed or Organization for Oppressing: Analysing the Role of the Basij Militia of Iran. Politics, Religion & Ideology, Dec., 37–41. doi:10.1080/21567689.2012.725661

External links

• Human Rights Watch, Colombia and Military-Paramilitary Links
• Global Security
• List of Terrorist Groups