paramilitary organisation

   An organisation formed out of a group of civilians who are trained and organised to operate in a military fashion. They represent a kind of auxiliary military, not quite military but carrying out military duties. Sometimes such organisations are created by governments as an aid to internal security; others are anti-government armed units that may use traditional or guerrilla warfare; and yet others are neither – private militias intended to enforce order without the niceties of the rule of law. All are prepared to resort to violence to achieve their goals.

   In the Northern Irish Troubles there have been republican paramilitaries such as the Irish Republican Army and splinter bodies associated with it and loyalist paramilitaries who similarly claim to defend the communities they represent (for example, the Ulster Defence Association and the Ulster Volunteer Force).