Left-wing terrorism
Left-wing terrorism is a form of terrorist political violence motivated by far-left ideologies, committed with the aim of overthrowing current capitalist systems and replacing them with communist, Marxist, anarchist or socialist societies. Left-wing terrorism can also occur within already socialist states as criminal action against the current ruling government.
The majority of left-wing terrorist groups originated in the aftermath of World War II and they were predominantly active during the Cold War. Most left-wing terrorist groups that had operated in the 1970s and 1980s disappeared by the mid-1990s.
Ideology
Left-wing terrorist groups and individuals have been influenced by various anarchist, communist and socialist currents, including Marxism. 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 and developed the concept of "propaganda of the deed", is considered a major influence on left-wing terrorists.According to Sarah Brockhoff, Tim Krieger, and Daniel Meierrieks, while left-wing terrorism is ideologically motivated, nationalist-separatist terrorism is ethnically motivated. They argue that the revolutionary goal of left-wing terrorism is non-negotiable whereas nationalist terrorists are willing to make concessions. They suggest that the rigidity of the demands of left-wing terrorists may explain their lack of support relative to nationalist groups. Nevertheless, many on the revolutionary left have shown solidarity for national liberation groups employing terrorism, such as Irish nationalists, the Palestine Liberation Organization, 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.
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. Other researchers argue that left-wing terrorism may not be less indiscriminate than its right-wing counterpart.
History
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. Modern left-wing terrorism developed in the context of the political unrest of 1968. According to David C. Rapoport, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at University of California, Los Angeles, 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 in 1968.In Western Europe, notable groups included the West German Red Army Faction, the Italian Red Brigades, the Greek Revolutionary Organization 17 November, the French action directe and the Belgian Communist Combatant Cells. 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.
Studies in the United States have indicated a potential rise in left-wing terrorism in 2025.
In Latin American countries, Stefan M. Aubrey describes the Sandinistas, Shining Path, 19th of April Movement, and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia 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.
Americas
United States
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. Between 1973 and 1975, the Symbionese Liberation Army was active, committing bank robberies, murders, and other acts of violence. 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. During the 1980s, both the May 19th Communist Organization 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. Incidents of left-wing terrorism dropped off at the end of the Cold War, partly due to the loss of support for communism.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. The killing is also referenced on the Anti-Defamation League's page on antifa, as the only "suspected antifa-related murder" to date; 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.
In the wake of the September 2025 assassination of Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump and others broadly attributed terrorist acts to left wing actors. However, studies show that well over half of political violence over recent decades has been caused by right-wing perpetrators, followed by Islamist extremists, followed by left-wing actors. From 2022 through 2024, all 61 political killings were committed by right-wing extremists.
19 May Communist Organization
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. 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. 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 to fund their operations; and initiate a series of bombings and terrorist attacks against the United States.FARC
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia 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. 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" 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. Children who try to escape the ranks of the guerrillas are punished with torture and death.Shining Path
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, Shining Path is on the United States Department of State's "Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations" list. Peru, the European Union, and Canada 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.
Tupamaros
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. However, unlike the latter, the guerrilla warfare in Uruguay was active in urban areas. The organization was involved in weapons theft, murder, kidnapping and bombings. Major attacks include the bombing of the Bowling Club in Carrasco, the Taking of Pando and the murder of farmer Pascasio Báez. By 1972, most of its members had already been imprisoned after the Armed Forces were charged with the fight against insurgency.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. The kidnapping of CIA officer Dan Mitrione was depicted in the 1972 film State of Siege.