View source for State-sponsored terrorism

{{short description|State support for terrorist activities and/or organizations}}
{{pp-pc}}
{{terrorism}}

'''State-sponsored terrorism''' is [[terrorism|terrorist]] violence carried out with the active support of national governments provided to [[violent non-state actor]]s. It contrasts with ''[[state terrorism]]'', which is carried out directly by state actors.

States can sponsor terrorist groups in several ways, including but not limited to funding terrorist organizations, providing training, supplying weapons, providing other logistical and intelligence assistance, and hosting groups within their borders. Because of the pejorative nature of the word, the identification of particular examples are often subject to political dispute and different [[definitions of terrorism]].

A wide variety of states in both [[Developed country|developed]] and [[Developing country|developing]] areas of the world have engaged in sponsoring terrorism. During the 1970s and 1980s, state sponsorship of terrorism was a frequent feature of international conflict. From that time to the 2010s there was a steady pattern of decline in the prevalence and magnitude of state support. Nevertheless, because of the increasing consequent level of violence that it could potentially facilitate, it remains an issue of highly salient international concern.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Collins |first1=Stephen D. |title=State-Sponsored Terrorism: In Decline, Yet Still a Potent Threat|publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]]; [[Policy Studies Organization]]|location=Mexico City; Washington |journal=[[Politics & Policy]] |date=February 2014 |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=131–159 |doi=10.1111/polp.12061}}</ref>

==Definition==
There are at least 250 definitions of "terrorism" available in academic literature and government and intergovernmental sources, several of which include mention of state sponsorship.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Easson |first1=Joseph J. |last2=Schmid |first2=Alex P. |editor-last=Schmid |editor-first=Alex P. |editor-link=Alex P. Schmid |title=The Routledge Handbook of Terrorism Research |chapter=250‑plus{{nbsp}}Academic, Governmental and Intergovernmental Definitions of Terrorism |date=2013 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=Abingdon, Oxon |isbn=9780415520997 |pages=99–157 |url=https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Terrorism-Research/Schmid/p/book/9780415520997 |access-date=2022-01-30 |archive-date=2022-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130021932/https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Terrorism-Research/Schmid/p/book/9780415520997 |url-status=live }}</ref> In a review of primary documents on international law governing armed conflict, Reisman and Antoniou identify that:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reisman |first1=Michael |last2=Antoniou |first2=Chris T. |title=The Laws of War : a comprehensive collection of primary documents on international laws governing armed conflict |date=1994 |publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf|Knopf]]; [[Vintage Books]] |location=New York |isbn=9780679737124 |page=293 |url=https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/book/?isbn=9780679737124 |access-date=2022-01-30 |archive-date=2022-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130021946/https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/book/?isbn=9780679737124 |url-status=live }}</ref> {{blockquote|Terrorism has come to mean the intentional use of violence against civilian and military targets generally outside of an acknowledged war zone by private groups or groups that appear to be private but have some measure of covert state sponsorship.}} The [[Gilmore Commission]]{{efn|Formally, "U.S. Congressional Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction"}} of the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] gave the following definition of state-sponsored terrorism:<ref>{{cite report |author=Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction|date=15 December 1999 |title=Assessing the Threat: First Annual Report |url=https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=861|publisher=[[RAND Corporation]]|via=[[United States Department of Homeland Security|Homeland Security Digital Library]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228204635/https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/www/external/nsrd/terrpanel/terror.pdf|archive-date=28 February 2017|page=iv |docket= |access-date=10 November 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> {{blockquote|the active involvement of a foreign government in training, arming, and providing other logistical and intelligence assistance as well as sanctuary to an otherwise autonomous terrorist group for the purpose of carrying out violent acts on behalf of that government against its enemies.}}

The [[U.S. Government]], which has repeatedly engaged in sponsorship of terrorism as a feature of its foreign policy,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blakeley |first1=Ruth |last2=Raphael |first2=Sam |editor-last=Jackson |editor-first=Richard |chapter=Understanding Western State Terrorism |title=Routledge Handbook of Critical Terrorism Studies |date=2018 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=London |isbn=9781138601147 |pages=339–359 |edition=2nd |url=https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Handbook-of-Critical-Terrorism-Studies/Jackson/p/book/9780415743761 |access-date=2022-01-30 |archive-date=2022-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130021935/https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Handbook-of-Critical-Terrorism-Studies/Jackson/p/book/9780415743761 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{refn|name=uscuba}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Herman |first1=Edward S. |title=U.S. Sponsorship of International Terrorism: An Overview |journal=Crime and Social Justice |date=1987 |issue=27/28 |pages=1–31 |jstor=29766326 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29766326 |issn=0094-7571 |access-date=2022-01-30 |archive-date=2022-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130021930/https://www.jstor.org/stable/29766326 |url-status=live }}</ref> provides its own definition in the U.S. State Department's [[State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)|list of state sponsors of terrorism]].<ref name=grant>{{cite web |last=Grant |first=John P. |title=Lockerbie Trial |access-date=2018-07-10 |url=http://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e60 |archive-date=2018-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710041828/http://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e60 |url-status=live }}</ref> Authorities and scholars of terrorism and conflict, such as [[Alex P. Schmid]] (former Officer-in-Charge of Terrorism Prevention at the [[United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]]), [[Daniel Byman]], Richard Chasdi, and Frank Shanty, have pointed to problems in the U.S.' definition, including that it is politicized, analytically unclear,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Byman |first1=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Byman |title=Understanding, and Misunderstanding, State Sponsorship of Terrorism |journal=[[Studies in Conflict & Terrorism]] |date=11 March 2020 |volume=42 |location=Abingdon/New York |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |issue=2 |pages=1031–1049 |doi=10.1080/1057610X.2020.1738682 |s2cid=216403475 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1057610X.2020.1738682 |access-date=30 January 2022 |archive-date=30 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130021944/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1057610X.2020.1738682 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> and inherently self-serving.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schmid |first=Alex P. |author-link=Alex P. Schmid |chapter=The Definition of Terrorism |editor=Schmid |title=The Routledge Handbook of Terrorism Research |date=2013 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=Abingdon, Oxon |isbn=9780415520997 |pages=39–98 |url=https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Terrorism-Research/Schmid/p/book/9780415520997 |access-date=2022-01-30 |archive-date=2022-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130021932/https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Terrorism-Research/Schmid/p/book/9780415520997 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Background==
The use of terrorist organizations as proxies in armed conflicts between state actors became more attractive in the mid-20th century as a result of post [[World War II]] developments like the increasing costs of traditional warfare and the risk of [[nuclear war]]. Speaking about the effect of nuclear capability on traditional military conflict [[KGB]] agent Alexander Sakharovsky said that "In today's world, when nuclear arms have made military force obsolete, terrorism should become our main weapon." Though state-sponsored terrorism persists in the post-9/11 era, some scholars have argued that it has become less significant in the age of global jihadism. On the other hand, [[Daniel Byman]] believes its importance has increased. Organizations like [[Hamas]], [[Hezbollah]] and [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]] are heavily dependent on state support. According to the US Counter-Terrorism Coordinator's Office this support can include "funds, weapons, materials and the secure areas" that organizations use for "planning and conducting operations".<ref name=ganor>{{Cite journal |publisher=Columbia University Press |first=Boaz |last=Ganor |journal=Global Alert |pages=64–72 |title=State Involvement in Terrorism |date=2015 |jstor=10.7312/gano17212.8 |doi=10.7312/gano17212 |isbn=9780231538916 }}</ref>

The ''Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law'' notes that international legal institutions currently lack a mechanism to prosecute terrorist leaders who "instruct, support or succour" terrorism. At the conclusion of the [[Lockerbie trial]], some commentators continued to harbor doubts about the legitimacy of the only conviction secured during the trial, and thus also about [[Libya]]{{'}}s involvement. The domestic trial proved to be insufficient to identify those who had given the instructions.<ref name=grant />

==By country==
===Afghanistan===
{{See also|KHAD|Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan}}
The United States and Pakistan have accused [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghanistan's]] [[KHAD|KhAD]] agency of being responsible for numerous terrorist attacks on Pakistani soil in the 1980s and early 1990s.

According to a report by the US Department of Defense, approximately 90% of the estimated 777 acts of international terrorism committed worldwide in 1987 took place in Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite news |first= |date=December 1987 |title=International Herald Tribune |pages=3}}</ref> By 1988, [[KHAD|KhAD]] and [[KGB]] agents were able to penetrate deep inside Pakistan and carry out attacks on mujahideen sanctuaries and guerrilla bases.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 February 1987 |title=Prime Minister Mohammad Khan Junejo warned today Pakistan would... |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/02/28/Prime-Minister-Mohammad-Khan-Junejo-warned-today-Pakistan-would/9072541486800/}}</ref> There was strong circumstantial evidence implicating Moscow-Kabul in the August 1988 assassination of [[Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq|Zia ul-Haq]], as the Soviets perceived that Zia wanted to adversely affect the [[Geneva Accords (1988)|Geneva process]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hilali |first=A Z |date= |title=Costs & Benefits of Afghan War for Pakistan |url=https://www.khyber.org/publications/pdf/afghanwarcosts.pdf |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417202859/https://www.khyber.org/publications/pdf/afghanwarcosts.pdf |archive-date=17 April 2021}}</ref> WAD/KhAD has also been suspected behind the assassination of [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] jihadist [[Abdullah Yusuf Azzam]] alongside his son in 1989.<ref>Peter L. Bergen, ''The Osama bin Laden I Know,'' New York: Free Press, 2006, p.97</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Coll |first=Steve |title=Ghost wars : the secret history of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet invasion to September 10, 2001 |date=2004 |publisher=Penguin Press |isbn=1-59420-007-6 |location=New York |oclc=52814066 }}</ref>

Afghanistan's KHAD was one of four secret service agencies accused of perpetrating terrorist bombings in multiple Pakistani cities including [[Islamabad]], [[Lahore]], [[Karachi]], and [[Rawalpindi]] during the early 1980s resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brumley |first=Bryan |date=2 April 1988 |title=Afghan Spy Agency Wages Terror Campaign in Pakistan |url=https://apnews.com/article/737418c9004f2725d3963060d3373c9e |website=[[Associated Press]] |access-date=10 September 2023 |archive-date=28 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328033640/https://apnews.com/article/737418c9004f2725d3963060d3373c9e |url-status=live }}</ref> By the late 1980s, the US State Department blamed WAD for the perpetration of terrorist bombings in Pakistani cities.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kaplan |first1=Robert D. |date=23 August 1989 |title=How Zia's Death Helped the U.S |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/23/opinion/how-zia-s-death-helped-the-us.html?pagewanted=1 |url-status=live |access-date=24 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109155701/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/23/opinion/how-zia-s-death-helped-the-us.html?pagewanted=1 |archive-date=9 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Pear |first=Robert |date=25 June 1989 |title=F.B.I. Allowed to Investigate Crash That Killed Zia |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/25/world/fbi-allowed-to-investigate-crash-that-killed-zia.html |url-status=live |access-date=24 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315192030/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/25/world/fbi-allowed-to-investigate-crash-that-killed-zia.html |archive-date=15 March 2010}}</ref> Between the late 1970s and the early 1990s, Afghanistan security agencies supported the terrorist organization called [[Al-Zulfikar|al-Zulfiqar]], the group that hijacked a Pakistan International Airlines plane from Karachi to Kabul in 1981.<ref>{{cite web |date=2008-03-01 |title=START &#124; Terrorist Organization Profile |url=http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=195 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100606104509/http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=195 |archive-date=6 June 2010 |access-date=2010-06-21 |publisher=Start.umd.edu}}</ref> Notable attacks include the [[1987 Karachi car bombing|Karachi Car bombing]] and an attempted car bombing on the [[US consulate|US Consulate]] in [[Peshawar]] which ended up killing over 30 people in 1987.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |title=TERRORISM REVIEW FOR 13 JANUARY 1987 {{!}} CIA FOIA (foia.cia.gov) |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/0000258615 |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=www.cia.gov |archive-date=2023-10-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030173123/https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/0000258615 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[KHAD|KhAD]] has also been accused of being behind the Hathora Murders which terrorized Karachi for 2 years in the mid-1980s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Paracha |first=Nadeem F. |date=2015-04-26 |title=Hathora Group: Karachi's first terror |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1177771 |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en |archive-date=2023-09-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230905150258/https://www.dawn.com/news/1177771 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 24 June 2017, Pakistani army chief [[Qamar Javed Bajwa]] chaired a high-level meeting in [[Rawalpindi]] and called on Afghanistan to "do more" in the fight against terrorism. According to the [[Inter-Services Public Relations|ISPR]], the [[June 2017 Pakistan bombings|attacks in Quetta and Parachinar]] were linked to terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan which enjoyed the "patronage of Afghanistan's [[National Directorate of Security]] (NDS)"<ref name="DAWN6">{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1341543/time-for-other-stakeholders-in-fight-against-terrorism-to-do-more-coas|title=Time for other stakeholders in fight against terrorism to do more: COAS|work=Dawn|date=24 June 2017|access-date=25 June 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624193506/https://www.dawn.com/news/1341543/time-for-other-stakeholders-in-fight-against-terrorism-to-do-more-coas|archive-date=24 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1341770/nawaz-confident-of-better-ties-with-afghanistan|title=Nawaz confident of better ties with Afghanistan|work=Dawn|date=26 June 2017|access-date=26 June 2017|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626152855/https://www.dawn.com/news/1341770/nawaz-confident-of-better-ties-with-afghanistan|archive-date=26 June 2017}}</ref>

===China===
{{See also|Naxalite–Maoist insurgency|Insurgency in Northeast India}}
[[India]] has accused China of supporting the [[Naxalite]]s in the [[Naxalite–Maoist insurgency]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north/story/chinese-intelligence-training-and-funding-maoists-in-india-100359-2012-04-26|date=26 April 2012|work=[[India Today]]|title=Maoists building weapons factories in India with help from China|df=dmy-all|access-date=30 March 2018|archive-date=4 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104231326/https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north/story/chinese-intelligence-training-and-funding-maoists-in-india-100359-2012-04-25|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2011, Indian police accused the Chinese government of providing sanctuary to the movement's leaders, and accused Pakistani [[Inter-Services Intelligence|ISI]] of providing financial support.<ref name = "China Paki link">{{cite news| url = https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Cops-nail-China-link-with-Naxals/articleshow/10273433.cms| title = Cops nail China link with Naxals| access-date = 2011-12-31| location = India| date = 2011-10-08| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130429202043/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-08/delhi/30257863_1_maoist-cadres-pla-training-camps| archive-date = 29 April 2013| url-status = live| work = [[The Times of India]]| df = dmy-all}} Times of India describes new findings of China ISI links to Naxal movement.</ref> India has also reported of China supporting militant groups in its [[Northeast India|Northeast states]] of [[Manipur]], [[Nagaland]] and [[Mizoram]].<ref name="IPCS">{{cite web|title=Insurgency in Northeast India: The Chinese Link|url=http://www.ipcs.org/comm_select.php?articleNo=4826|publisher=Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies|date=2 February 2015|access-date=3 August 2020|archive-date=15 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815050027/http://www.ipcs.org/comm_select.php?articleNo=4826|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="The Quint">{{cite news|last=Bhattacharyya|first=Rajeev|date=1 July 2020|title=How China's 'Aid' To Rebel Groups Sustained Northeast Insurgency|url=https://www.thequint.com/voices/opinion/northeast-india-sustained-insurgency-covert-chinese-support-weapons-supply|newspaper=The Quint|access-date=3 August 2020|archive-date=1 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801193219/https://www.thequint.com/voices/opinion/northeast-india-sustained-insurgency-covert-chinese-support-weapons-supply|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Chinese government has blocked [[UN Security Council]] [[Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee|Sanctions Committee]] listing of [[Masood Azhar]], the founder and leader of the Pakistan-based organization [[Jaish-e-Mohammed]] as a terrorist.<ref>
{{cite news |title=China's move to block ban against Azhar came just before deadline |newspaper=The Hindu |date=April 2, 2016 |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/just-before-deadline-china-moved-to-ensure-masood-azhar-wasnt-banned/article8425860.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402043440/http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/just-before-deadline-china-moved-to-ensure-masood-azhar-wasnt-banned/article8425860.ece |archive-date=2016-04-02 |url-status=live }}
</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=China fumes after India issues visa to Uyghur 'terrorist' |author=Sutirtho Patranobis |journal=Hindustan Times |date=April 23, 2016 |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/china-seething-after-india-issues-visa-to-uyghur-terrorist/story-uKjeZnyrRaRCkmBHxIwxaJ.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423123404/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/china-seething-after-india-issues-visa-to-uyghur-terrorist/story-uKjeZnyrRaRCkmBHxIwxaJ.html |archive-date=2016-04-23 |url-status=live }}
</ref>
Starting 2009, there have been 4 attempts to put [[Masood Azhar]] in the UN Security Council's counter-terrorism sanctions list. All the attempts were vetoed by China, citing 'lack of evidence'. In 2016 China again blocked India's appeal to the United Nations to label Azhar as a terrorist.<ref>{{cite news |title=China blocks India's move to ban Jaish chief Masood Azhar, again |date=1 October 2016 |newspaper=Hindustan Times |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/china-extends-veto-on-india-s-move-for-un-blacklisting-of-jaish-chief-masood-azhar/story-Ut9sxWSJGQJb5Rc70cIweM.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012232716/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/china-extends-veto-on-india-s-move-for-un-blacklisting-of-jaish-chief-masood-azhar/story-Ut9sxWSJGQJb5Rc70cIweM.html |archive-date=2016-10-12 |url-status=live}}
</ref>
China also blocked a US move to get Azhar banned by the UN in February 2017.<ref>
{{cite news |title=China blocked US move to get Masood Azhar banned by UN |newspaper=Times of India |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/china-blocked-us-move-to-get-masood-azhar-banned-by-un/articleshow/57029498.cms |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209170856/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/china-blocked-us-move-to-get-masood-azhar-banned-by-un/articleshow/57029498.cms |archive-date=2017-02-09 |url-status=live}}
</ref> The most recent attempt was on 13 March 2019.<ref name="Firstpost14">{{cite news |title=If China continues to block Masood Azhar's designation as 'global terrorist', UN may be forced to pursue other actions: UNSC diplomat |url=https://www.firstpost.com/world/if-china-continues-to-block-masood-azhars-designation-as-global-terrorist-un-may-be-forced-to-pursue-other-actions-unsc-diplomat-6256771.html |access-date=14 March 2019 |work=Firstpost |date=14 March 2019 |archive-date=28 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128062526/https://www.firstpost.com/world/if-china-continues-to-block-masood-azhars-designation-as-global-terrorist-un-may-be-forced-to-pursue-other-actions-unsc-diplomat-6256771.html |url-status=live }}</ref> However, in May 2019, China backed listing of Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.<ref name="UNSC">{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/mohammad-masood-azhar-alvi|title=Mohammad Masood Azhar Alvi|date=1 May 2019|work=United Nations Security Council|access-date=1 May 2019|archive-date=26 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226222004/https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/mohammad-masood-azhar-alvi|url-status=live}}</ref>

In mid-2020, [[Myanmar]] accused China of arming the [[Arakan Army]], which was legally considered a terrorist organisation by the Myanmar government from 2019 to 2021. China has allegedly given the Arakan Army assault rifles, machine guns and [[FN-6|FN-6 Chinese Manpads]] capable of shooting down helicopters, drones and combat aircraft.<ref name="EFSAS">{{cite web|title=The easy flow of illicit Chinese weapons into Myanmar poses threats to regional security and stability|url=https://www.efsas.org/commentaries/the-easy-flow-of-illicit-chinese-weapons-into-myanmar/|publisher=European Foundation for South Asian Studies|date=24 July 2020|access-date=3 August 2020|archive-date=2 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802222038/https://www.efsas.org/commentaries/the-easy-flow-of-illicit-chinese-weapons-into-myanmar/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="The Irrawaddy">{{cite news|date=3 July 2020|title=Myanmar's Generals Aren't Happy With China{{snd}}and It's No Longer a Secret|url=https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/editorial/myanmars-generals-arent-happy-china-no-longer-secret.html|newspaper=The Irrawaddy|access-date=3 August 2020|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803121945/https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/editorial/myanmars-generals-arent-happy-china-no-longer-secret.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="LICAS News">{{cite news|last=Corr|first=Anders|date=28 May 2020|title=China's diplo-terrorism in Myanmar|url=https://spotlight.licas.news/china-s-diplo-terrorism-in-myanmar/index.html|newspaper=LICAS News|access-date=3 August 2020|archive-date=29 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729004112/https://spotlight.licas.news/china-s-diplo-terrorism-in-myanmar/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===India===

India has been accused by Pakistan<ref>{{cite news |author=Mateen Haider |date=2015-05-14 |title=RAW involved in terrorist activities across Pakistan: foreign secretary |work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]] |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1181908 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150812203508/http://www.dawn.com/news/1181908 |archive-date=2015-08-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Dagia |first=Niha |date=24 September 2017 |title=India is the mother of terrorism in South Asia, Pakistan tells world leaders |work=The Express Tribune |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1514928/india-mother-terrorism-south-asia-pakistan-tells-world-leaders/ |url-status=live |access-date=24 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924143844/https://tribune.com.pk/story/1514928/india-mother-terrorism-south-asia-pakistan-tells-world-leaders/ |archive-date=24 September 2017}}</ref> of supporting terrorism and carrying out "economic sabotage".<ref name="tribune.com.pk1">{{cite web |date=2 June 2015 |title=India's unhealthy obsession with China-Pakistan Economic Corridor |url=http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/27940/indias-unhealthy-obsession-with-china-pakistan-economic-corridor/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150808062522/http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/27940/indias-unhealthy-obsession-with-china-pakistan-economic-corridor/ |archive-date=8 August 2015 |access-date=8 August 2015}}</ref>

In 2017, [[Kulbhushan Jadhav]], an Indian naval officer arrested in March 2016 in [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]] and charged with espionage and sabotage was [[sentenced to death]]. He was accused of operating a [[covert]] terror network within Balochistan.<ref name="Spy">{{cite news |last1=Masood |first1=Salman |last2=Kumar |first2=Hari |title=Pakistan Sentences Indian Spy to Death for Operating Terrorism Ring |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/10/world/asia/pakistan-india-death-sentence-spy-kulbhushan-yadav.html |work=The New York Times |date=10 April 2017 |access-date=20 October 2023 |archive-date=9 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409020139/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/10/world/asia/pakistan-india-death-sentence-spy-kulbhushan-yadav.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Jadhav had confessed that he was tasked by India’s intelligence agency, the [[Research and Analysis Wing]] (RAW), “to plan and organise espionage and sabotage activities” in Balochistan and [[Karachi]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Transcript of RAW agent Kulbhushan's confessional statement |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1248786 |work=DAWN.COM |date=30 March 2016 |language=en |access-date=20 October 2023 |archive-date=31 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231024932/https://www.dawn.com/news/1248786 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Spy"/>

In November 2020, the [[Foreign Office of Pakistan]] made public a dossier containing 'irrefutable proofs' of the alleged Indian sponsorship of [[terrorism in Pakistan]].<ref>{{cite news |date=November 14, 2020 |title='Irrefutable evidence': Dossier on India's sponsorship of state terrorism in Pakistan presented |work=Dawn |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1590333 |access-date=December 11, 2021 |archive-date=June 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220613144014/https://www.dawn.com/news/1590333 |url-status=live }}</ref> It contained proof of India's alleged financial and material sponsorship of multiple terrorist organisations, including UN-designated terrorist organisations [[Balochistan Liberation Army]], [[Jamaat-ul-Ahrar]], and [[Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan]].<ref>{{cite news |date=November 15, 2020 |title=Specific proof of Indian terrorism in Pakistan unveiled |work=Dawn |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1590441 |access-date=December 11, 2021 |archive-date=June 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220612003621/https://www.dawn.com/news/1590441 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=25 November 2020 |title=Pakistan gives UN a dossier on India, New Delhi dubs it 'lies' |work=Al Jazeera |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/25/pakistan-gives-un-a-dossier-on-india-new-delhi-dubs-it-lies |access-date=11 December 2021 |archive-date=18 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118163326/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/25/pakistan-gives-un-a-dossier-on-india-new-delhi-dubs-it-lies |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=13 September 2021 |title=Pakistan's 131-page dossier accuses India of hosting ISIS camps |work=[[The Times of India]] |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pakistans-131-page-dossier-accuses-india-of-hosting-isis-camps/articleshow/86150959.cms |access-date=11 December 2021 |archive-date=15 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115122915/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pakistans-131-page-dossier-accuses-india-of-hosting-isis-camps/articleshow/86150959.cms |url-status=live }}</ref> The dossier was shared with the [[United Nations Secretary-General]] [[António Guterres]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Pakistan shares dossier on India's 'terror campaign' with UN secretary general |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1592313 |work=Dawn |date=25 November 2020 |access-date=20 October 2023 |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209115124/https://www.dawn.com/news/1592313 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Pakistan has also accused Indian consulates in Kandahar and Jalalabad, Afghanistan, of providing arms, training and financial aid to the [[Balochistan Liberation Army]] (BLA) in an attempt to destabilize Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/84902/wikileaks-india-russia-supporting-baloch-insurgency/|title=MPs told Russia, India and UAE involved in Baloch insurgency|work=The Express Tribune|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222162916/http://tribune.com.pk/story/84902/wikileaks-india-russia-supporting-baloch-insurgency/|archive-date=2014-12-22|date=2010-12-03}}</ref><ref name="outlook">{{cite web|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?231032|title='RAW Is Training 600 Balochis In Afghanistan' – Mariana Baabar – Apr 24, 2006|work=outlookindia.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206133821/http://outlookindia.com/article.aspx?231032|archive-date=2010-12-06}}</ref> [[Brahamdagh Bugti]] stated in a 2008 interview that he would accept help from India.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.oneindia.in/2008/07/24/bugtis-grandson-ready-to-accept-help-from-india-1216875825.html |title=Bugti's grandson ready to accept help from India |publisher=News.oneindia.in |date=24 July 2008 |access-date=19 May 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510202229/http://news.oneindia.in/2008/07/24/bugtis-grandson-ready-to-accept-help-from-india-1216875825.html |archive-date=10 May 2013 }}</ref> Pakistan has repeatedly accused India of supporting Baloch rebels,<ref name="talks">{{cite web |last=Butt |first=Qaiser |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/225958/balochistan-conflict-pms-talks-with-leaders-unlikely-to-succeed/ |title=Balochistan conflict: 'PM's talks with leaders unlikely to succeed' |work=The Express Tribune |access-date=17 December 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015000006/http://tribune.com.pk/story/225958/balochistan-conflict-pms-talks-with-leaders-unlikely-to-succeed/ |archive-date=15 October 2013 |date=2011-08-07}}</ref> and [[David Wright-Neville]] writes that outside Pakistan, some Western observers also believe that India secretly funds the BLA.<ref name="Wright-Neville">{{cite book|title=Dictionary of Terrorism|publisher=Polity|isbn=978-0745643021|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgmXxoLHv8MC&pg=PA48|author=David Wright-Neville|edition=1st|access-date=3 June 2012|pages=48–49|year=2010|archive-date=4 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104231257/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgmXxoLHv8MC&pg=PA48#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> In August 2013, US Special Representative [[James Dobbins (diplomat)|James Dobbins]] said Pakistan's fears over India's role in Afghanistan were “not groundless".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dawn.com/news/1034778/us-acknowledges-pakistans-fears-of-indian-presence-in-afghanistan |title=US acknowledges Pakistan's fears of Indian presence in Afghanistan |work=Dawn |location=Pakistan |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140803210717/http://www.dawn.com/news/1034778/us-acknowledges-pakistans-fears-of-indian-presence-in-afghanistan |archive-date=2014-08-03 |date=2013-08-07}}</ref> A [[United States diplomatic cables leak|leaked diplomatic cable]] sent on December 31, 2009, from the U.S. consulate in Karachi said it was "plausible" that Indian intelligence was helping the Baluch insurgents. An earlier 2008 cable, discussing the Mumbai attacks reported fears by British officials that "intense domestic pressure would force Delhi to respond, at the minimum, by ramping up covert support to nationalist insurgents fighting the Pakistani army in Baluchistan."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cables-india-mumbai-attacks|title=WikiLeaks cables: Britain 'over-reacted' in wake of Mumbai attacks|author=Declan Walsh|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=6 August 2015|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626193408/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cables-india-mumbai-attacks|archive-date=26 June 2015|date=December 2010}}</ref>

====Operation Pawan====
{{main|Operation Pawan}}
India's [[Research and Analysis Wing]] trained and armed the Sri Lankan Tamil group [[LTTE]] which want an independent country for Tamils of Sri Lanka, due to the continuous [[Sinhala Only Act|discrimination]] and [[List of attacks on civilians attributed to Sri Lankan government forces|violent persecution]] against [[Sri Lankan Tamils]] by the [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]] dominated [[Sri Lanka government|Sri Lankan Government]] during the 1970s,  but it later withdrew its support in the late 1980s when the terrorist activities of LTTE became serious and it formed alliances with separatist groups in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.<ref name=":3">{{cite web|url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/17707/raw.html|title=RAW: India's External Intelligence Agency|publisher=Council on Foreign Relations|date=November 7, 2008|author=Jayshree Bajoria|access-date=2010-06-21|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721020826/http://www.cfr.org/publication/17707/raw.html|archive-date=July 21, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-04-20|title=Indian police uncovered a plot, but Sri Lanka didn't act|url=https://apnews.com/article/islamic-state-group-ap-top-news-new-delhi-international-news-colombo-44977ae4c0aa413997ddc766d8c46061|access-date=2021-07-16|website=AP NEWS|language=en|archive-date=2021-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716145106/https://apnews.com/article/islamic-state-group-ap-top-news-new-delhi-international-news-colombo-44977ae4c0aa413997ddc766d8c46061|url-status=live}}</ref> From August 1983 to May 1987, India, through its intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), provided arms, training and monetary support to six Sri Lankan Tamil insurgent groups including the LTTE. During that period, 32 terror training camps were set up in India to train these 495 LTTE insurgents,<ref name="sndayt">{{cite web|url=http://sundaytimes.lk/970119/plus4.html|title=LTTE: the Indian connection|work=Sunday Times|year=1997|access-date=25 July 2011|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915053716/http://sundaytimes.lk/970119/plus4.html|archive-date=15 September 2014}}</ref> including 90 women who were trained in 10 batches.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/19971212/34650923.html|title=Uppermost in our minds was to save the Gandhis' name|publisher=Express India|year=1997|access-date=25 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070811204127/http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/19971212/34650923.html|archive-date=11 August 2007}}</ref> The first batch of Tigers were trained in [[Special Frontier Force|Establishment 22]] based in [[Chakrata]], Uttarakhand. The second batch, including LTTE intelligence chief [[Pottu Amman (Tamil militant)|Pottu Amman]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nation.lk/2009/10/04/militarym.htm|title=Pottu Amman: Patient but ruthless Tiger|work=The Nation|year=2009|access-date=28 July 2011|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530122902/http://www.nation.lk/2009/10/04/militarym.htm|archive-date=2010-05-30}}</ref> trained in [[Himachal Pradesh]]. Prabakaran visited the first and the second batch of Tamil Tigers to see them training.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}} Eight other batches of LTTE were trained in Tamil Nadu.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-05-13|title=The pervasive world of Indian intelligence|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/2220857/6-pervasive-world-indian-intelligence|access-date=2021-07-16|website=The Express Tribune|language=en|archive-date=2022-01-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128154743/https://tribune.com.pk/story/2220857/6-pervasive-world-indian-intelligence|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Thenmozhi Rajaratnam]] ''alias'' Dhanu, who carried out the [[assassination of Rajiv Gandhi]] and Sivarasan—the key conspirator were among the militants trained by R&AW, in [[Nainital]], India.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Killing Rajiv Gandhi: Dhanu's sacrificial metamorphosis in death|year=2009|doi=10.1080/19472490903387191 |volume=1|journal=South Asian History and Culture|pages=25–41|last1=Roberts|first1=Michael|doi-access=free}}</ref> In April 1984, the LTTE formally joined a common militant front, the [[Eelam National Liberation Front]] (ENLF), a union between LTTE, the [[Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization]] (TELO), the [[Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students]] (EROS), the [[People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam]] (PLOTE) and the [[Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front]] (EPRLF). On [[Operation Poomalai|4 June 1987]], when the Tamil Tiger-held Jaffna Peninsula was under siege by the Sri Lankan army, India provided airdrop of relief supplies to LTTE.<ref>{{cite news |title=FACTBOX-India's role in Sri Lanka's civil war |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUKCOL223047 |work=Reuters |date=October 17, 2008 |access-date=December 11, 2021 |archive-date=November 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110050609/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUKCOL223047 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Iran===
{{Main|Iran and state-sponsored terrorism}}{{See also|Hezbollah-Iran relations}}

Former United States President [[George W. Bush]] accused the Iranian government of being the "world's primary state sponsor of terror."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-07-20|title=Blair: Iran sponsors terrorism|website=[[CNN]]|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02/08/blair.iran/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070720120354/http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02/08/blair.iran/index.html|archive-date=2007-07-20|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-04-19|title=NewsFromRussia.Com Sharon calls Syria and Iran sponsors of terrorism|url=http://newsfromrussia.com/world/2005/10/31/66629.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070419001445/http://newsfromrussia.com/world/2005/10/31/66629.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-04-19|access-date=2021-05-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-03-31|title=Fighting breaks out in Yemen with Shi'ite group tied to Iran|url=http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/07/front2454132.4243055554.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070331124343/http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/07/front2454132.4243055554.html|archive-date=2007-03-31|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-06}}</ref>
 

Iran's [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]] was instrumental in founding, training, and supplying [[Hezbollah]], a group designated a "Foreign Terrorist Organization" by the United States Department of State,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm|title=Foreign Terrorist Organizations|website=U.S. Department of State|access-date=2016-03-04|archive-date=2017-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127131842/https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> and likewise labeled a terrorist organization by Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Terrorism/Hizbullah/Pages/default.aspx|title=Hezbollah|website=GxMSDev|access-date=2016-03-04|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310005518/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Terrorism/Hizbullah/Pages/default.aspx|archive-date=2016-03-10}}</ref> and the [[Gulf Cooperation Council]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gulf-hezbollah-idUSKCN0W40XF|title=Gulf Arab states label Hezbollah a terrorist organization|date=2016-03-02|publisher=Reuters|access-date=2016-03-04|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233218/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-gulf-hezbollah-idUSKCN0W40XF|archive-date=2016-03-03}}</ref> This view is not universal, however; for example, the [[European Union]] differentiates between the political, social, and military wings of Hezbollah, designating only its military wing as a terrorist organization,<ref>{{Cite journal|date=31 July 2015|title=COUNCIL DECISION (CFSP) 2015/1334 of 31 July 2015 updating the list of persons, groups and entities subject to Articles 2, 3 and 4 of Common Position 2001/931/CFSP on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism, and repealing Decision (CFSP) 2015/521|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32015D1334&qid=1440691334018&from=EN|journal=Official Journal of the European Union|access-date=4 March 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151115175414/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32015D1334&qid=1440691334018&from=EN |archive-date=15 November 2015}}</ref> while various other countries maintain relations with Hezbollah.

Iran conducted terrorism in Australia through the [[2024 Iranian operations inside Australia]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Doherty |first=Ben |last2=Butler |first2=Josh |date=2025-08-26 |title=Iran vows ‘reciprocal action’ as Australia rejects accusation it expelled ambassador to ‘appease Israel’ |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/aug/26/iran-vows-reciprocal-action-against-australia-after-expulsion-of-ambassador |access-date=2025-08-27 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

===Iraq===
{{See also|State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)#Iraq}}

[[Iraq]] was added to the list on December 29, 1979, but was removed in February 1982 to allow US aid to Iraq while it was fighting Iran in the [[Iran–Iraq War]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/13/world/confrontation-gulf-us-aid-helped-hussein-s-climb-now-critics-say-bill-due.html Confrontation in the Gulf; U.S. Aid Helped Hussein's Climb; Now, Critics Say, the Bill Is Due] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326004149/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/13/world/confrontation-gulf-us-aid-helped-hussein-s-climb-now-critics-say-bill-due.html |date=March 26, 2022 }} ''The New York Times'', Aug 13, 1990.</ref><ref>R. Gregory Nokes, "U.S. Adds Cuba, Drops Iraq from Terrorism List," Associated Press. February 26, 1982.</ref> It was re-added on September 13, 1990, following its [[Invasion of Kuwait]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/09/20040924-8.html|title=Memorandum for the Secretary of State|website=georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov|access-date=December 15, 2020|archive-date=May 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523143421/https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/09/20040924-8.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and again removed from the list on 25 October 2004.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information |first=Bureau of Public Affairs |title=Iraq Removed from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/rmo/hglt/37603.htm |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=2001-2009.state.gov |language=en}}</ref>

===Israel===
{{Main|Israel and state-sponsored terrorism}}

In the 21st-century, the [[State of Israel]] has been accused of sponsoring and supporting opposition groups as part of [[Iran–Israel proxy conflict|its proxy conflict with Iran]], as well as being a state-sponsor of terrorism,<ref>*{{citation|first1=Martha|last1=Crenshaw|first2=John|last2=Pimlott|chapter=Western Sponsors of Terrorism|title=International Encyclopedia of Terrorism|publisher=Routledge|date=2015|page=680|isbn=978-1135919665|quote=Israel has been involved in sponsoring terrorist groups in Lebanon. In its struggle against Palestinian and Shiite terrorists, Israel generally relied on assassinations carried out by its special forces or on military reprisals, but also provided arms, training and military assistance to local militias such as the right-wing Phalange. Like other militias involved in Lebanon's civil war, Phalange carried out numerous terrorist attacks. The most notorious was the massacre of Palestinian civilians at Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps near Beirut in 1982.|ref=none}}
*{{citation|first1=Dale L.|last1=Johnson|title=Social Inequality, Economic Decline, and Plutocracy: An American Crisis|publisher=Springer|date=2017|page=123|isbn=978-3319490434|quote=Israel, a nation that engages in state-sponsored terrorism in the extreme, has received more American military and economic aid than any country in the world, allowing the continuation of the Palestine occupation and violent repression of the resistance.|ref=none}}
*{{citation|first=Robert|last=Wright|title=Israel and Proxy Terrorism|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/02/israel-and-proxy-terrorism/252971/|date=13 February 2012|publisher=The Atlantic|access-date=28 June 2019|ref=none|archive-date=8 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508150025/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/02/israel-and-proxy-terrorism/252971/|url-status=live}}
*{{citation|first=Glenn|last=Greenwald|title=Israel, MEK and state sponsor of Terror groups|url=https://www.salon.com/2012/02/10/israel_mek_and_state_sponsor_of_terror_groups/|date=10 February 2012|work=Salon|access-date=28 June 2019|ref=none|archive-date=14 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314074839/https://www.salon.com/2012/02/10/israel_mek_and_state_sponsor_of_terror_groups/|url-status=live}}</ref> and also committing acts of [[state terrorism]].<ref>
*{{citation|title= Israel's State Terrorism|first=Lev|last=Grinberg|journal=Peace Research|publisher=Canadian Mennonite University|volume=34|number=1|date=May 2002|pages=1–2|jstor=23608008|ref=none}}
*{{citation|title=Reviewed Work: State of Terror: How Terrorism Created Modern Israel by Suarez, Thomas |first= Elaine C.|last=Hagopian|journal= Arab Studies Quarterly|publisher=Pluto Journals|volume=39|number=2|date=Spring 2017|pages=861–864|jstor=10.13169/arabstudquar.39.2.0861|doi=10.13169/arabstudquar.39.2.0861|ref=none|doi-access=free}}
*{{citation|first=Sandra|last=Nasr|chapter=Israel's other terrorist challenge|title=Contemporary State Terrorism: Theory and Practice|publisher=Routledge|date=2009|pages=68, 74, 81–82|isbn=978-1135245160|editor1=Richard Jackson |editor2=Eamon Murphy |editor3=Scott Poynting|quote=From the foregoing, it is surely indisputable that Israel is committing acts of state terror of many kinds on a daily basis in the Occupied Territories... It is reasonable to conclude that until all appropriate steps to prevent IDF abuse against unarmed Palestinian civilians are taken by authorities, Israel is culpable and guilty of using state terror tactics.|ref=none}}</ref>

Several sovereign countries have at some point officially alleged that Israel is a proponent of state-sponsored terrorism, including [[Iran]], [[Lebanon]],<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticlePrintPage.aspx?id=1666694&language=en|title=Siniora says Israel's attacks "state-sponsored terrorism"|work=Kuwait News Agency|date=30 July 2006|ref=none|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-date=3 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803133018/https://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticlePrintPage.aspx?id=1666694&language=en|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Saudi Arabia]],<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-gaza-saudi/saudi-king-labels-israeli-offensive-in-gaza-a-war-crime-idUSKBN0G142I20140801|title=Saudi king labels Israeli offensive in Gaza a war crime|quote=Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah broke his silence on Friday over the three-week-old conflict in Gaza, condemning what he saw as international silence over Israel’s offensive and describing this as a war crime and “state-sponsored terrorism”.|work=Reuters|author1=Angus McDowall|author2=Rania El Gamal|author3=Sami Aboudi|editor=Mark Heinrich|date=August 2014|ref=none|access-date=2021-03-12|archive-date=2022-06-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220620105527/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-gaza-saudi/saudi-king-labels-israeli-offensive-in-gaza-a-war-crime-idUSKBN0G142I20140801|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Syria]],<ref>{{citation|title=History Behind the Headlines: The Origins of Conflicts Worldwide|publisher=Gale Group|isbn=978-0787659110|year=2002|volume=5|pages=313, 319|quote=Clearly Syria sees Israel as a terrorist state and has even suggested to Washington that Israel be added to the U.S. government's list of state sponsors.}}</ref> [[Turkey]],<ref>*{{citation|url=http://www.euronews.com/2017/12/10/turkish-president-erdogan-calls-israel-terrorist-netanyahu-hits-back|title=Erdogan calls Israel 'terrorist', Netanyahu hits back|work=Euronews|date=10 December 2017|ref=none|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-date=15 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415031409/https://www.euronews.com/2017/12/10/turkish-president-erdogan-calls-israel-terrorist-netanyahu-hits-back|url-status=live}}
*{{citation|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-flotilla-inquiry/netanyahu-says-ready-to-testify-in-flotilla-inquiry-idUSTRE65838V20100609|title=Netanyahu says ready to testify in flotilla inquiry|quote=The bloodshed triggered an international outcry and strained relations between Israel and its once-close Muslim ally, Turkey. Israel called the troops’ actions “self-Defense.” Turkey described the killings as “state-sponsored terrorism.”|work=Reuters|author=Jeffrey Heller|editor=Diana Abdallah|date=9 June 2010|ref=none|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-date=26 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126001618/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-flotilla-inquiry/netanyahu-says-ready-to-testify-in-flotilla-inquiry-idUSTRE65838V20100609|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Yemen]].<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/59/statements/yemeng040924.pdf|title=Yemeni Statement|quote=We demand the Security Council to ensure the physical safety of the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, and to provide protection for the Palestinian people against Israeli state-sponsored terrorism, in addition to showing respect for the wishes and the will of the Palestinian people.|publisher=United Nations|ref=none|access-date=2021-03-12|archive-date=2021-07-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210703134131/https://www.un.org/webcast/ga/59/statements/yemeng040924.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

An early example of Israeli state-sponsored terrorism was the 1954 [[Lavon Affair]], a botched bomb plot in Egypt that led to the resignation of the Israeli defense minister at the time. In the 1970s and 1980s, Israel was also a major supplier of arms to dictatorial regimes in South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia. A report by [[Brian Ross (journalist)|Brian Ross]] and [[Christopher Isham]] of [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] in April 2007 alleged that [[Jundallah (Iran)|Jundallah]] "had been secretly encouraged and advised by American officials" to destabilize the government in Iran,<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last1=Ross|first1=Brian|url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/04/abc_news_exclus.html|title=ABC News Exclusive: The Secret War Against Iran|date=3 April 2007|work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070623051645/http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/04/abc_news_exclus.html|archive-date=23 June 2007|last2=Isham|first2=Christopher}}</ref>

Prime Minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] was also himself accused of [[Israeli support for Hamas|championing a policy of empowering Hamas]] in Gaza by allowing suitcases of Qatari money to be given to the Israeli-designated terrorist group as part of a strategy to sabotage a [[two-state solution]] by confining the Palestinian Authority to the West Bank and weakening it, and to demonstrate to the Israeli public and western governments that Israel has no partner for peace.<ref>The Jerusalem Post, 12 Mar. 2019 [https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/netanyahu-money-to-hamas-part-of-strategy-to-keep-palestinians-divided-583082#583082 "Netanyahu: Money to Hamas Part of Strategy to Keep Palestinians Divided: 'Now that we are supervising, we know it's going to humanitarian causes," the source said, paraphrasing Netanyahu"]</ref><ref name="CBS11">{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/netanyahu-israel-gaza-hamas-1.7010035|title=How Netanyahu's Hamas policy came back to haunt him — and Israel|accessdate=28 October 2023|date=28 October 2023|work=CBS News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/06/15/israels-big-new-shift-in-hamas-policy/|title=Israel's Big New Shift in Hamas Policy|work=Foreign Policy|accessdate=28 October 2023|date=15 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/23910085/netanyahu-israel-right-hamas-gaza-war-history|title=Benjamin Netanyahu failed Israel|work=Vox|date=9 October 2023|accessdate=28 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/10/16/how-benjamin-netanyahu-empowered-hamas/|work=The Telegraph|title=How Benjamin Netanyahu empowered Hamas ... and broke Israel|accessdate=28 October 2023|date=16 October 2023}}</ref>

===Kuwait===
{{main|Kuwait and state-sponsored terrorism}}
[[Kuwait]] has been frequently accused of supporting [[terrorism financing]] within its borders.<ref name=isis /><ref name="how"/><ref name=carn/><ref name="terror"/><ref name="extremism"/><ref name="pl"/><ref name="wsj.com"/><ref name="p"/> Kuwait has been described as the world's biggest source of terrorism funding, particularly for [[ISIS]] and [[Al-Qaeda]].<ref name="isis">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/kuwait-top-ally-on-syria-is-also-the-leading-funder-of-extremist-rebels/2014/04/25/10142b9a-ca48-11e3-a75e-463587891b57_story.html|title=Kuwait, ally on Syria, is also the leading funder of extremist rebels|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=2021-03-23|archive-date=2021-02-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211004621/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/kuwait-top-ally-on-syria-is-also-the-leading-funder-of-extremist-rebels/2014/04/25/10142b9a-ca48-11e3-a75e-463587891b57_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="how">{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/kuwait/11077537/How-our-allies-in-Kuwait-and-Qatar-funded-Islamic-State.html|title=How our allies in Kuwait and Qatar funded Islamic State|website=www.telegraph.co.uk|date=6 September 2014 |access-date=2021-03-23|archive-date=2021-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127025027/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/kuwait/11077537/How-our-allies-in-Kuwait-and-Qatar-funded-Islamic-State.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="carn">{{Cite web|url=https://nationalinterest.org/commentary/new-kuwaiti-justice-minister-has-deep-extremist-ties-9719|title=New Kuwaiti Justice Minister Has Deep Extremist Ties|author=David Andrew Weinberg|date=16 January 2014 |access-date=2021-03-23|archive-date=2021-03-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323011240/https://nationalinterest.org/commentary/new-kuwaiti-justice-minister-has-deep-extremist-ties-9719|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="wsj.com">William Mauldin, [https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-calls-qatar-kuwait-lax-over-terror-financing-1414108799 "U.S. Calls Qatar, Kuwait Lax Over Terror Financing"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927172301/https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-calls-qatar-kuwait-lax-over-terror-financing-1414108799 |date=2018-09-27 }}, ''The Wall Street Journal'', October 23, 2014</ref><ref name="p">{{Cite web|url=https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2014/05/kuwaiti-salafism-and-its-growing-influence-in-the-levant?lang=en|title=Kuwaiti Salafism and Its Growing Influence in the Levant|author=Zoltan Pall|access-date=2021-03-23|archive-date=2021-03-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210322235927/https://carnegieendowment.org/2014/05/07/kuwaiti-salafism-and-its-growing-influence-in-levant-pub-55514|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="pl">{{Cite web|url=https://www.brookings.edu/research/playing-with-fire-why-private-gulf-financing-for-syrias-extremist-rebels-risks-igniting-sectarian-conflict-at-home/|title=Playing with Fire: Why Private Gulf Financing for Syria's Extremist Rebels Risks Igniting Sectarian Conflict at Home|author=Elizabeth Dickinson|access-date=2021-03-23|archive-date=2021-03-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323001003/https://www.brookings.edu/research/playing-with-fire-why-private-gulf-financing-for-syrias-extremist-rebels-risks-igniting-sectarian-conflict-at-home/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="terror">{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/terrorist-funding-disconnect-qatar-and-kuwait|title=The Terrorist Funding Disconnect with Qatar and Kuwait|website=The Washington Institute|access-date=2021-03-23|archive-date=2021-03-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323022308/https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/terrorist-funding-disconnect-qatar-and-kuwait|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="extremism">{{Cite web|url=https://www.counterextremism.com/countries/kuwait-extremism-and-terrorism|title=Kuwait: Extremism and Terrorism|website=Counter Extremism Project|access-date=2023-04-09|archive-date=2023-04-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409074003/https://www.counterextremism.com/countries/kuwait-extremism-and-terrorism|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Lebanon===
Lebanon was accused by United States and Israel for supporting [[Hezbollah]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thetower.org/5354-hezbollah-fights-alongside-laf-demonstrating-its-continuing-control-over-lebanon/|title=Hezbollah Fights Alongside LAF Demonstrating its Continuing Control over Lebanon &#124; The Tower|date=February 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200202024824/http://www.thetower.org/5354-hezbollah-fights-alongside-laf-demonstrating-its-continuing-control-over-lebanon/|archive-date=2020-02-02}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/468107fec.html|title=Refworld &#124; U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2004 – Lebanon|first=United Nations High Commissioner for|last=Refugees|website=Refworld|access-date=2021-01-26|archive-date=2021-01-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109144208/https://www.refworld.org/docid/468107fec.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Libya===
{{Main|Libya and state-sponsored terrorism}}
After the military overthrow of [[King Idris]] in 1969 the [[Libyan Arab Republic]] (later the [[Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya]]), the new government supported (with weapon supplies, training camps located within Libya and monetary finances) an array of armed [[paramilitary]] groups largely [[Left-wing politics|left]] as well as some [[Right-wing politics|right-wing]]. Leftist and [[socialism|socialist]] groups included the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]], the [[Basque Fatherland and Liberty]], the [[Umkhonto We Sizwe]], the [[Polisario Front]], the [[Kurdistan Workers' Party]], the [[Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement]], the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]], [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]], [[Free Aceh Movement]], [[Free Papua Movement]], [[Fretilin]], [[Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front]], [[Republic of South Maluku]] and the [[Moro National Liberation Front]] of the [[Philippines]].

In 2006, Libya was removed from the [[United States]] list of terrorist supporting nations after it had ended all of its support for armed groups and the development of [[weapons of mass destruction]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/66244.htm|title=Rescission of Libya's Designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism|access-date=2008-07-17|date=2006-05-16|publisher=U.S. Department of State|archive-date=2009-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205061806/http://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/66244.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Malaysia===
Citing [[Operation Merdeka]], an alleged Philippine plot to incite unrest in [[Sabah]] and reclaim the disputed territory, Malaysia funded and trained secessionists groups such as the [[Moro National Liberation Front]] in retaliation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sharnoffsglobalviews.com/malaysia-philippines/|title=Will Sabah Become Malaysia's Waterloo?|work=Sharnoff's Global Views|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313154011/http://www.sharnoffsglobalviews.com/malaysia-philippines/|archive-date=2018-03-13|date=2013-04-04}}</ref>

===North Korea===
{{See also|State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)#North Korea}}

===Pakistan===
{{main|Pakistan and state-sponsored terrorism}}
Pakistan has been accused by [[India]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Israel]],{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}} the [[United Kingdom]], and the [[United States]]<ref name="US">International Terrorism: Threats and Responses: Hearings Before the Committee on the Judiciary By United States Congress House Committee on the Judiciary, {{ISBN|0160522307}}, 1996, pp. 482</ref><ref name=state>{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2000/2441.htm|title=Overview of State-Sponsored Terrorism|date=April 30, 2001|publisher=[[U.S. State Department]]|access-date=2019-01-25|archive-date=2006-04-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060403032830/https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2000/2441.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Pakdt">{{cite web |date=2002-05-29 |title=UK says Pakistan must stop infiltration across LoC |url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-5-2002_pg1_1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060404185434/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-5-2002_pg1_1 |archive-date=2006-04-04 |access-date=2010-06-21 |work=Daily Times}}</ref> of involvement in [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] as well as Afghanistan.<ref name=NYT2006>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/18/world/asia/18cnd-afghan.html|title=Pakistan's link to Afghan terrorism|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 18, 2006|first=Sultan M.|last=Munadi|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701024742/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/18/world/asia/18cnd-afghan.html|archive-date=July 1, 2017}}</ref> [[Poland]] has also alleged that terrorists have "friends in Pakistani government structures".<ref name=NYT2009>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/world/asia/10iht-10pstan.20066897.html|title=Pakistan is complicit in killing by Taliban, a Polish official says|date=February 10, 2009|work=[[The New York Times]]|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909100113/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/world/asia/10iht-10pstan.20066897.html|archive-date=September 9, 2017}}</ref> In July 2009, the then [[President of Pakistan]] [[Asif Ali Zardari]] admitted that the [[Pakistani government]] had "created and nurtured" terrorist groups to achieve its short-term foreign policy goals in the 80’s under Zia.<ref name=Zardari>{{cite news|last=Nelson|first=Dean|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/5779916/Pakistani-president-Asif-Zardari-admits-creating-terrorist-groups.html|title=Pakistani president Asif Zardari admits creating and training terrorist groups on pakistani soil|work=Telegraph|date=2009-07-08|access-date=2010-06-21|location=London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604171330/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/5779916/Pakistani-president-Asif-Zardari-admits-creating-terrorist-groups.html|archive-date=2010-06-04}}</ref> According to an analysis published by the [[Saban Center for Middle East Policy]] at [[Brookings Institution]] in 2008, Pakistan was the worlds 'most active' state sponsor of terrorism including aiding groups which were considered a direct threat to the United States.<ref>Daniel Byman, [https://web.archive.org/web/20091227164039/http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2008/05_terrorism_byman/05_terrorism_byman.pdf "The Changing Nature of State Sponsorship of Terrorism"], [[Brookings Institution]]</ref>

The [[Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front]] (JKLF) has stated that it was training more than 3,000 militants from various nationalities.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-09-30|title=Daily Times |url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_14-6-2005_pg1_4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930190536/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_14-6-2005_pg1_4|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-09-30|access-date=2021-05-06}}</ref><ref>[http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/oct/16quake1.htm 'Pak feared exposure of militant camps'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107082131/http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/oct/16quake1.htm |date=2007-11-07 }} – [[Rediff]] October 16, 2005</ref> According to some reports published by the [[Council of Foreign Relations]], the Pakistan military and the [[Inter-Services Intelligence]] (ISI) have provided covert support to terrorist groups active in [[Kashmir]], including the [[al-Qaeda]] affiliate [[Jaish-e-Mohammed]]".<ref>{{Cite web|date=2009-07-24|title=The ISI and Terrorism: Behind the Accusations |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations|url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/11644/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090724100526/http://www.cfr.org/publication/11644/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-07-24|access-date=2021-05-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/9514/|title=Pakistan's New Generation of Terrorists|work=Council on Foreign Relations|access-date=6 August 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202062723/http://www.cfr.org/publication/9514/|archive-date=2 December 2008}}</ref> Pakistan has denied any involvement in terrorist activities in [[Kashmir]], arguing that it only provides political and moral support to the [[secessionist]] groups who wish to escape Indian rule. Many Kashmiri militant groups also maintain their headquarters in [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir|Pakistan-administered Kashmir]], which is cited as further proof by the [[Indian government]]. Many of the terrorist organisations are banned by the UN, but continue to operate under different names.<ref>[https://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0528/p07s01-wosc.html "Kashmiri militants chafe at warmer India-Pakistan ties"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022144312/http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0528/p07s01-wosc.html |date=2012-10-22 }}, ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'', 2003-05-28</ref>

The [[United Nations]] organization has publicly increased pressure on Pakistan on its inability to control its Afghanistan border and not restricting the activities of [[Taliban]] leaders who have been designated by the UN as terrorists.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-01-10|title=Pakistan should crack down on Taliban, UN official says |publisher= International Herald Tribune|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/09/news/afghan.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070110003637/http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/09/news/afghan.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-01-10|access-date=2021-05-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5190244.stm|title=Musharraf's 'crisis on all fronts'|work=BBC News|date=2006-07-21|access-date=2010-06-21|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091227223103/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5190244.stm|archive-date=2009-12-27}}</ref> Many consider that Pakistan has been playing both sides in the US "[[war on terror]]".<ref>[https://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1002/p01s04-wosc.html "Pakistan said to play both sides on terror war"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924045023/http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1002/p01s04-wosc.html |date=2015-09-24 }}, October 02, 2006, ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]''</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/kashmir/Story/0,2763,722049,00.html Dangerous game of state-sponsored terror that threatens nuclear conflict] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814175215/http://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/Foreign-baddies-muscle-into-Tamil-cinema/2013/09/01/article1757724.ece |date=2014-08-14}} May 25, 2002, ''[[The Guardian]]''</ref>

[[Ahmed Rashid]], a noted Pakistani journalist, has accused Pakistan's ISI of providing help to the Taliban.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.zeit.de/kosmoblog/?p=877|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107111410/http://blog.zeit.de/kosmoblog/?p=877|url-status=dead|title=Die Zeit – Kosmoblog » Mustread: Rashid über Afghanistan<!-- Bot generated title -->|archive-date=November 7, 2007}}</ref> Author [[Ted Galen Carpenter]] echoed that statement, stating that Pakistan "... assisted rebel forces in Kashmir even though those groups have committed terrorist acts against civilians"<ref>{{Cite web|date=2005-09-04|title=Terrorist Sponsors: Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, China|url=https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3841|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050904082722/https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3841|url-status=dead|archive-date=2005-09-04|access-date=2021-05-06}}</ref> Author [[Gordon Thomas (author)|Gordon Thomas]] stated that whilst aiding in the capture of al-Qaeda members, Pakistan "still sponsored terrorist groups in the disputed state of Kashmir, funding, training and arming them in their war on attrition against India."<ref>{{cite book|last=Thomas|first=Gordon|title=Gideon's Spies|publisher=Macmillan|year=2007|page=536|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pb80XoP5jvUC&q=state+sponsored+terrorism+pakistan|isbn=978-0312361525|access-date=2020-10-19|archive-date=2024-01-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104231226/https://books.google.com/books?id=pb80XoP5jvUC&q=state+sponsored+terrorism+pakistan#v=snippet&q=state%20sponsored%20terrorism%20pakistan&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Journalist [[Stephen Schwartz (journalist)|Stephen Schwartz]] notes that several militant and criminal groups are "backed by senior officers in the Pakistani army, the country's ISI intelligence establishment and other armed bodies of the state."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/archive/features/24639/a-threat-to-the-world.thtml|title=A threat to the world|access-date=2007-09-20|author=Stephen Schwartz|date=19 August 2006|work=[[The Spectator]]|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224052833/http://www.spectator.co.uk/archive/features/24639/a-threat-to-the-world.thtml|archive-date=24 December 2007}}</ref> According to one author, [[Daniel Byman]], "Pakistan is probably today's most active sponsor of terrorism."<ref>Daniel Byman, ''Deadly Connections: States That Sponsor Terrorism'', {{ISBN|0521839734}}, 2005, [[Cambridge University Press]], p. 155</ref>

The Inter-Services Intelligence has often been accused of playing a role in major [[terrorist attacks]] across the world including the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]] in the United States,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,3604,1266317,00.html|work=The Guardian|location=London|title=The Pakistan connection|first=Michael|last=Meacher|date=July 22, 2004|access-date=May 24, 2010|archive-date=January 4, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104231225/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jul/22/usa.september11|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Violence in Jammu and Kashmir|terrorism in Kashmir]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/9514/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060718135741/http://www.cfr.org/publication/9514/|url-status=dead|title=Terrorism Havens: Pakistan – Council on Foreign Relations|archive-date=July 18, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2002/02/22/Indian-minister-ties-ISI-to-Kashmir/UPI-60501014411631/|title=Indian minister ties ISI to Kashmir|work=UPI|date=February 22, 2002|access-date=2010-06-21|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016003047/http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2002/02/22/Indian-minister-ties-ISI-to-Kashmir/UPI-60501014411631/|archive-date=October 16, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Jamal Afridi|url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/9135/|title=Kashmir Militant Extremists|publisher=Council on Foreign Relations|date=July 9, 2009|access-date=2010-06-21|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214103922/http://www.cfr.org/publication/9135/|archive-date=February 14, 2007}}</ref> [[11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings|Mumbai Train Bombings]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5394686.stm|work=BBC News|title=Pakistan 'role in Mumbai attacks'|date=September 30, 2006|access-date=May 24, 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110127103910/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5394686.stm|archive-date=January 27, 2011}}</ref> [[2001 Indian Parliament attack|Indian Parliament Attack]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=2001-12-17|title=Terrorist Attack on the Parliament of India|url=http://www.indianembassy.org/new/parliament_dec_13_01.htm#STATEMENT%20MADE%20BY%20HOME%20MINISTER,%20L.%20K.%20ADVANI%20ON%20THE%20TERRORIST%20ATTACK%20ON%20PARLIAMENT%20HOUSE%20ON%20DECEMBER%2013,%202001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011217035306/http://www.indianembassy.org/new/parliament_dec_13_01.htm#STATEMENT%20MADE%20BY%20HOME%20MINISTER,%20L.%20K.%20ADVANI%20ON%20THE%20TERRORIST%20ATTACK%20ON%20PARLIAMENT%20HOUSE%20ON%20DECEMBER%2013,%202001|url-status=dead|archive-date=2001-12-17|access-date=2021-05-06}}</ref> [[2006 Varanasi bombings|Varanasi bombings]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/mar/21spec.htm|title=ISI now outsources terror to Bangladesh|work=Rediff.com|date=March 21, 2006|access-date=2010-06-21|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526011441/http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/mar/21spec.htm|archive-date=May 26, 2011}}</ref> [[25 August 2007 Hyderabad bombings|Hyderabad bombings]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://in.rediff.com/news/2007/may/25guest.htm|title=Hyderabad blasts: The ISI hand|work=Rediff.com|date=May 25, 2007|access-date=2010-06-21|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526011450/http://in.rediff.com/news/2007/may/25guest.htm|archive-date=May 26, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2008-06-30|title=ISI may be behind Hyderabad blasts: Jana Reddy|url=http://www.ibnlive.com/news/isi-may-be-behind-hyderabad-blasts-jana-reddy/47473-3.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630100025/http://www.ibnlive.com/news/isi-may-be-behind-hyderabad-blasts-jana-reddy/47473-3.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-06-30|access-date=2021-05-06}}</ref> and [[2008 Mumbai attacks]].<ref>{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna28015877|title=U.S. official: Indian attack has Pakistani ties|publisher=NBC News|date=2008-12-02|access-date=2010-06-21|archive-date=2018-08-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817024805/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/28015877|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/2008/12/06/top14.htm|title=Rice tells Pakistan to act 'or US will'|work=Dawn|date=2008-12-06|access-date=2010-06-21|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706184905/http://www.dawn.com/2008/12/06/top14.htm|archive-date=2010-07-06}}</ref> The ISI is also accused of supporting Taliban forces<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6033383.stm|work=BBC News|title=Pakistan's shadowy secret service|date=October 9, 2006|access-date=May 24, 2010|first=Mahmud|last=Ali|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221224921/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6033383.stm|archive-date=February 21, 2017}}</ref> and recruiting and training [[mujahideen]]<ref name="autogenerated2" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/06/wafghan06.xml|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|title=Nato's top brass accuse Pakistan over Taliban aid|first=Ahmed|last=Rashid|date=October 6, 2006|access-date=May 24, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080327122408/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2006%2F10%2F06%2Fwafghan06.xml|archive-date=March 27, 2008}}</ref> to fight in Afghanistan<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/world/asia/21quetta.html|work=The New York Times|title=At Border, Signs of Pakistani Role in Taliban Surge|first=Carlotta|last=Gall|date=January 21, 2007|access-date=May 24, 2010|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231131515/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/world/asia/21quetta.html|archive-date=December 31, 2016}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE7D81F3EF936A15751C0A9649C8B63|work=The New York Times|title=A Nation Chlenged: The Suspects; Death of Reporter Puts Focus On Pakistan Intelligence Unit|date=February 25, 2002|access-date=May 24, 2010|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210100440/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE7D81F3EF936A15751C0A9649C8B63|archive-date=December 10, 2008}}</ref> and Kashmir.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> Based on communication intercepts US intelligence agencies concluded Pakistan's ISI was behind the [[2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul|attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul]] on July 7, 2008, a charge that the governments of India and Afghanistan had laid previously.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/01/world/asia/01pstan.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416182042/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/01/world/asia/01pstan.html|url-status=dead|title=Pakistanis Aided Attack in Kabul, U.S. Officials Say|first1=Mark|last1=Mazzetti|first2=Eric|last2=Schmitt|date=August 1, 2008|archive-date=April 16, 2009|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> Afghan President [[Hamid Karzai]], who has constantly reiterated allegations that militants operating training camps in Pakistan have used it as a launch platform to attack targets in Afghanistan, urged western military allies to target extremist hideouts in neighbouring Pakistan.<ref>[http://www.dawn.com/2008/08/11/top6.htm Karzai wants action by allied forces in Pakistan] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912124309/http://www.dawn.com/2008/08/11/top6.htm |date=2008-09-12}} August 11, 2008 Dawn, Pakistan</ref> When the United States, during the [[Clinton administration]], targeted al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan with [[cruise missiles]], ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' reported that two officers of the ISI were killed.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2010-05-13|title=Pakistan is the problem|author=Christopher Hitchens |journal=Slate Magazine|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2200134|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100513031504/http://www.slate.com/id/2200134|url-status=dead|archive-date=2010-05-13|access-date=2021-05-06}}</ref>

Pakistan is accused of sheltering and training the Taliban as strategic asset<ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-05-14|title=The ISI and Terrorism: Behind the Accusations |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations|url=http://www.cfr.org/pakistan/isi-terrorism-behind-accusations/p11644|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514133949/http://www.cfr.org/pakistan/isi-terrorism-behind-accusations/p11644|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-05-14|access-date=2021-05-06}}</ref> in operations "which include soliciting funding for the Taliban, bankrolling Taliban operations, providing diplomatic support as the Taliban's virtual emissaries abroad, arranging training for Taliban fighters, recruiting skilled and unskilled manpower to serve in Taliban armies, planning and directing offensives, providing and facilitating shipments of ammunition and fuel, and on several occasions apparently directly providing combat support," as reported by [[Human Rights Watch]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2025|reason=Lack of source}}

Pakistan was also responsible for the evacuation of about 5,000 of the top leadership of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda who were encircled by NATO forces in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. This event, known as the [[Kunduz airlift]], which is also popularly called the "Airlift of Evil", involved several [[Pakistani Air Force]] transport planes flying multiple sorties over a number of days.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025|reason=Lack of source}}{{better source needed|date=May 2025}}

On May 1, 2011 [[Osama bin Laden]] was killed in Pakistan, he was living in a [[Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad|safe house]] less than a mile away from, what is called the [[West Point]] of Pakistan, the [[Pakistan Military Academy]]. This has given rise to numerous allegations of an extensive support system for Osama Bin Laden was in place by the Government and Military of Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/afghan2/Afghan0701-02.htm|title=Crisis of Impunity – Pakistan's Support Of The Taliban|publisher=Human Rights Watch|year=2001|access-date=2010-06-21|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615184800/http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/afghan2/Afghan0701-02.htm|archive-date=2010-06-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/magazine/what-pakistan-knew-about-bin-laden.html?_r=2|title=What Pakistan Knew About Bin Laden|date=March 19, 2014|access-date=2016-04-10|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716051150/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/magazine/what-pakistan-knew-about-bin-laden.html?_r=2|archive-date=July 16, 2015|newspaper=The New York Times|last1=Gall|first1=Carlotta}}</ref>

Former President of Afghanistan, [[Hamid Karzai]] accused Pakistan for supporting ISIS during interview with [[Asian News International|ANI]] that Afghanistan has evidence of Pakistan's support to [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIS]]. He added that there is no doubt to the above statement.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/QVM1FHzamSg Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200914193523/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVM1FHzamSg&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|title=No doubt on Pakistan's role in supporting ISIS: Hamid Karzai |publisher= ANI News |via= YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVM1FHzamSg&feature=youtu.be|access-date=2020-08-01|website=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

[[Pervez Musharraf]], former Pakistan President, had admitted in 2016 that Pakistan supported and trained terrorist groups like [[Lashkar-e-Taiba]] in 1990s to carry out militancy in Kashmir and Pakistan was in favour of religious militancy in 1979. He said that [[Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi]] and [[Hafiz Muhammad Saeed|Hafiz Saeed]] were seen as heroes in Pakistan during the 1990s. He added that later on this religious militancy turned into terrorism and they started killing their own people. He also stated that Pakistan trained the [[Taliban]] to fight against Russia, saying that the Taliban, [[Osama bin Laden]], [[Jalaluddin Haqqani]] and [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]] were heroes for Pakistan however later they became villains.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-03-23|title=Osama bin Laden, Taliban were heroes for Pakistan: Pervez Musharraf |website=IBNLive|url=http://www.ibnlive.com/news/world/osama-bin-laden-taliban-were-heroes-for-pakistan-pervez-musharraf-1157198.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323072842/http://www.ibnlive.com/news/world/osama-bin-laden-taliban-were-heroes-for-pakistan-pervez-musharraf-1157198.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-03-23|access-date=2021-05-06}}</ref>

In an April 2025 interview, when Pakistan's defense minister [[Khawaja Asif]] was asked about Pakistan’s response and stance on terrorism in the aftermath of the [[2025 Pahalgam attack|Pahalgam Attack]] that killed twenty six people, he framed it as "dirty work" that Pakistan had been doing for the "West" for about "three decades."<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=PTI |date=2025-04-25 |title=Pakistan doing West's dirty work for decades: Pakistan Defence Minister |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/pakistan-doing-wests-dirty-work-for-decades-pakistan-defence-minister/article69490687.ece |access-date=2025-05-20 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> When further pressed on the attack's links to [[The Resistance Front]], an offshoot of [[Lashkar-e-Taiba]], he claimed that the group was extinct and did not exist anymore.<ref name=":4" /> However, later it was revealed that one of the terrorist camps that India targeted during its [[Operation Sindoor]] on 07 May was related to Lashkar-e-Taiba. Markaz-e-Taiba was a camp located in [[Muridke]], and according to Indian sources, an attacker behind a terrorist attack on [[Indian Institute of Science]] was trained here.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-09 |title=LeT's Muridke camp targeted in Operation Sindoor also trained Bengaluru Indian Institute of Science attacker in 2002-03 |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bangalore/lets-muridke-camp-operation-sindoor-indian-institute-of-science-attacker-9993460/ |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref> Videos of supporters of Lashkar-e-Taiba and the al-Qaeda-linked 313 Brigade promoting jihad, found on TikTok, YouTube, and Google, originated from this camp located in Pakistan. Forensically verified, the footage showed armed men and children in martial arts training, with captions and hashtags like "#313" and "mujahid" indicating ties to banned groups.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Terror group supporters posted on TikTok, YouTube and Google from site targeted in Indian airstrikes |url=https://news.sky.com/story/terror-group-supporters-posted-on-tiktok-youtube-and-google-from-site-targeted-in-indian-airstrikes-13363716 |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=Sky News |language=en}}</ref>

===Qatar===
{{main|Qatar and state-sponsored terrorism}}

In 2011 the ''[[Washington Times]]'' reported that [[Qatar]] was providing weapons and funding to [[Abdelhakim Belhadj]], leader of the formerly U.S. designated terrorist group, [[Libyan Islamic Fighting Group]] (LIFG) and then leader of the [[Conservatism|conservative]] [[Islamist]] [[Al-Watan Party (Libya)|Al-Watan Party]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/29/rebels-fearful-of-islamist-takeover/#ixzz2NIOC1awF|title=Rebels fearful of Islamist takeover in Libya|work=Washington Times|date=2011-09-29|access-date=2013-04-23|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122224019/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/29/rebels-fearful-of-islamist-takeover/#ixzz2NIOC1awF|archive-date=2013-01-22}}</ref>

In December 2012 the ''[[New York Times]]'' published an editorial accusing the Qatari regime of funding the [[Al-Nusra Front]], a U.S. government [[List of designated terrorist organizations|designated terrorist organization]].<ref>Editorial, Al Qaeda in Syria, December 10, 2012, {{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/opinion/al-qaeda-in-syria.html?_r=0 |title=Opinion &#124; al Qaeda in Syria |access-date=2017-09-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617110600/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/opinion/al-qaeda-in-syria.html?_r=0 |archive-date=2016-06-17 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2012-12-10}}</ref> The ''[[Financial Times]]'' noted [[Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani|Emir Hamad's]] visit to Gaza and meeting with [[Hamas]], another internationally designated terrorist organization.<ref>October 23, 2012, "Qatar emir in landmark trip to Gaza," by Simeon Kerr in Dubai and Vita Bekker in Jerusalem, http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0d0bb8de-1cf5-11e2-a17f-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2MxwMs81t {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928045724/https://www.ft.com/content/0d0bb8de-1cf5-11e2-a17f-00144feabdc0/#axzz2MxwMs81t |date=2020-09-28 }}. ''Financial Times''</ref> Spanish football club [[FC Barcelona]] were coming under increasing pressure to tear up their £125m shirt sponsorship contract with the [[Qatar Foundation]] after claims the so-called charitable trust finances Hamas. The fresh controversy follows claims made by the Spanish newspaper ''[[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]]'' that the Qatar Foundation had given money to cleric [[Yusuf al Qaradawi]] who is alleged to be an advocate of terrorism, [[Domestic violence|wife beating]] and [[antisemitism]].{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

In January 2013 French politicians again accused the Qatari Government of giving material support to [[Islamist]] groups in [[Mali]] and the French newspaper ''[[Le Canard enchaîné]]'' quoted an unnamed source in French military intelligence saying that "The [[National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad|MNLA]] [secular Tuareg separatists], al Qaeda-linked [[Ansar Dine]] and [[Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa|Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa]] have all received cash from Doha."<ref>Is Qatar fuelling the crisis in north Mali?, France 24, Latest update: 23/01/2013, {{cite web |url=http://www.france24.com/en/20130121-qatar-mali-france-ansar-dine-mnla-al-qaeda-sunni-islam-doha |title=Is Qatar fuelling the crisis in north Mali? |access-date=2015-09-19 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915185854/http://www.france24.com/en/20130121-qatar-mali-france-ansar-dine-mnla-al-qaeda-sunni-islam-doha/ |archive-date=2015-09-15 |date=2013-01-21 }}</ref>

In March 2014, the then Iraqi Prime Minister [[Nouri al-Maliki]] has accused the Qatari government of sponsoring Sunni insurgents fighting against Iraqi soldiers in western Anbar province.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-10-12|title=Al-Qaeda terror financier worked for Qatari government – Telegraph|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11156327/Al-Qaeda-terror-financier-worked-for-Qatari-government.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012133154/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11156327/Al-Qaeda-terror-financier-worked-for-Qatari-government.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-10-12|access-date=2021-05-07}}</ref>

In October 2014, it was revealed that a former Qatari Interior Ministry official, Salim Hasan Khalifa Rashid al-Kuwari, had been named by the [[United States Department of the Treasury|U.S. Department of the Treasury]] as an al Qaeda financier, with allegations that he gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to the terrorist group. Kuwari worked for the civil defense department of the Interior Ministry in 2009, two years before he was designated for his support of al Qaeda.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11156327/Al-Qaeda-terror-financier-worked-for-Qatari-government.html|title=Al-Qaeda terror financier worked for Qatari government|work=The Telegraph|author=Robert Mendick|date=12 October 2014|access-date=12 October 2014|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012133154/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11156327/Al-Qaeda-terror-financier-worked-for-Qatari-government.html|archive-date=12 October 2014}}</ref>

A number of wealthy Qataris are accused of sponsoring the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/08/world/middleeast/qatars-support-of-extremists-alienates-allies-near-and-far.html|title=Qatar's Support of Islamists Alienates Allies Near and Far|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=David D. Kirkpatrick|date=7 September 2014|access-date=12 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141001014000/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/08/world/middleeast/qatars-support-of-extremists-alienates-allies-near-and-far.html|archive-date=1 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/whos-funding-isis-wealthy-gulf-angel-investors-officials-say-n208006|publisher=NBC News|title=Who's Funding ISIS? Wealthy Gulf 'Angel Investors,' Officials Say|author=Robert Windrem|date=21 September 2014|access-date=12 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011231809/http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/whos-funding-isis-wealthy-gulf-angel-investors-officials-say-n208006|archive-date=11 October 2014}}</ref> In response to public criticism over Qatari connections to ISIL, the government has pushed back and denied supporting the group.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Aug-24/268278-qatar-hits-back-at-claims-it-backs-isis.ashx#axzz3FyEgVtTp|title=Qatar hits back at claims it backs ISIS|agency=Associated Press|date=24 August 2014|work=Daily Star|location=Beirut|access-date=12 October 2014|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016232542/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Aug-24/268278-qatar-hits-back-at-claims-it-backs-isis.ashx#axzz3FyEgVtTp|archive-date=16 October 2014}}</ref>

===Russia and the Soviet Union {{anchor|Soviet Union and Russia}}===
{{further|Terrorism and the Soviet Union}}
{{See also|Terrorism in Russia}}
The Soviet (and later Russian) secret services worked to establish a network of terrorist [[front organization]]s and had been described as the primary promoters of terrorism worldwide.<ref name="Lunev0">[[Stanislav Lunev]] ''Through the Eyes of the Enemy: The Autobiography of Stanislav Lunev'', Regnery Publishing, Inc., 1998. {{ISBN|0-89526-390-4}}.</ref><ref>[[Viktor Suvorov]] ''Inside Soviet Military Intelligence'', 1984, {{ISBN|0-02-615510-9}}.</ref><ref name=Spetsnaz>[[Viktor Suvorov]], ''Spetsnaz'', 1987, Hamish Hamilton Ltd, {{ISBN|0241119618}}.</ref> According to defector [[Ion Mihai Pacepa]], General [[Aleksandr Sakharovsky]] from the [[First Chief Directorate]] of the [[KGB]] once said: "In today’s world, when [[Nuclear weapon|nuclear arms]] have made military force obsolete, terrorism should become our main weapon."<ref name="Pacep2"/> Pacepa further claims Sakharovsky stated that "Airplane hijacking is my own invention" and that [[George Habash]], who worked under the KGB's guidance,<ref name="Mitrokhin">[[Christopher Andrew (historian)|Christopher Andrew]], [[Vasili Mitrokhin]], (2000). ''The [[Mitrokhin Archive]]: The KGB in Europe and the West''. Gardners Books. {{ISBN|0140284877}}</ref> explained: "Killing one Jew far away from the field of battle is more effective than killing a hundred Jews on the field of battle, because it attracts more attention."<ref name="Pacep2"/>

Pacepa described an alleged operation "SIG" ("[[Zionist]] Governments") that was devised in 1972, to turn the whole Islamic world against [[Israel]] and the [[United States]]. KGB chairman [[Yury Andropov]] allegedly explained to Pacepa that "a billion adversaries could inflict far greater damage on America than could a few millions. We needed to instill a [[Nazi]]-style hatred for the [[Jews]] throughout the [[Islamic world]], and to turn this weapon of the emotions into a terrorist bloodbath against Israel and its main supporter, the United States."<ref name="Pacep2">{{cite news |last=Pacepa |first=Ion Mihai |author-link=Ion Mihai Pacepa |title=Russian Footprints |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/218533/russian-footprints/ion-mihai-pacepa |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109232047/http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/218533/russian-footprints/ion-mihai-pacepa |archive-date=January 9, 2015 |url-status=dead |journal=[[National Review]] |date=August 24, 2006}}</ref>

The following organizations have been allegedly established with assistance from [[Eastern Bloc]] security services:<ref name="World" />
* the PLO,
* the [[National Liberation Army (Bolivia)|National Liberation Army of Bolivia]] (created in 1964 with help from [[Ernesto Che Guevara]]),
* the [[National Liberation Army (Colombia)|National Liberation Army of Colombia]] (created in 1965 with help from [[Cuba]]),
* the [[Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (DFLP) in 1969, and the [[Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia|Armenian Secret Army for Liberation of Armenia]] in 1975.<ref name="World">[[Vasili Mitrokhin]] and [[Christopher Andrew (historian)|Christopher Andrew]], ''The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World'', Basic Books (2005) hardcover, {{ISBN|0465003117}}.</ref>

The leader of the PLO, [[Yasser Arafat]], established close collaboration with the Romanian [[Securitate]] service and the Soviet [[KGB]] in the beginning of the 1970s.<ref name="Third World pages 250-253">''The KGB and the Battle for the Third World'', pp. 250–253</ref> The secret training of PLO guerrillas was provided by the KGB.<ref>''The KGB and the Battle for the Third World'', p. 145</ref> However, the main KGB activities and arms shipments were channeled through [[Wadie Haddad]] of the DFLP organization, who usually stayed in a KGB [[dacha]] BARVIKHA-1 during his visits to Russia. Led by [[Carlos the Jackal]], a group of PFLP fighters accomplished a spectacular [[OPEC siege|raid on OPEC headquarters]] in [[Vienna]] in 1975. Advance notice of this operation "was almost certainly" given to the KGB.<ref name="Third World pages 250-253" />

A number of notable operations have been conducted by the KGB to support international terrorists with weapons on the orders from the [[CPSU|Soviet Communist Party]], including:
* Transfer of machine-guns, automatic rifles, [[Walther arms|Walther]] pistols, and cartridges to the [[Official Irish Republican Army]] by the Soviet intelligence vessel ''Reduktor'' (operation SPLASH) in 1972 to fulfill a personal request of arms from [[Michael O'Riordan]].<ref>''KGB in Europe'', p. 502</ref>
* Transfer of anti-tank grenade [[RPG-7]] launchers, radio-controlled SNOP mines, pistols with silencers, machine guns, and other weaponry to the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] through [[Wadi Haddad]] who was recruited as a KGB agent in 1970 (operation VOSTOK, "East").<ref>Operation was sanctioned personally by [[Leonid Brezhnev]] in 1970. The weapons were delivered by the KGB vessel ''Kursograf''. ''KGB in Europe'', pp. 495–498</ref>
* Support of the [[Kurdistan Workers' Party]], in order to destabilize Turkey, a key NATO member during the Cold War.<ref name="PKK">{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/syria-and-turkey-the-pkk-dimension|title=Syria and Turkey: The PKK Dimension|work=washingtoninstitute.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141225011851/http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/syria-and-turkey-the-pkk-dimension|archive-date=2014-12-25}}</ref>

Large-scale terrorist operations have been prepared by the [[KGB]] and [[Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye|GRU]] against the United States, Canada and Europe, according to the [[Mitrokhin Archive]],<ref name="KGB 472-476">[[Mitrokhin Archive]], ''The KGB in Europe'', pp. 472–476.</ref> GRU defectors [[Victor Suvorov]]<ref name=Spetsnaz/> and [[Stanislav Lunev]], and former [[Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)|SVR]] officer Kouzminov.<ref name="Kuzminov">Alexander Kouzminov ''Biological Espionage: Special Operations of the Soviet and Russian Foreign Intelligence Services in the West'', Greenhill Books, 2006, {{ISBN|1853676462}} {{cite web |url=http://www.calitreview.com/Interviews/int_kouzminov_8013.htm |title=False Flags, Ethnic Bombs and Day X |access-date=2007-12-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050425151231/http://www.calitreview.com/Interviews/int_kouzminov_8013.htm |archive-date=2005-04-25 }}</ref> Among the planned operations were the following:
* Large arms caches were allegedly hidden in many countries for the planned terrorism acts. They were booby-trapped with [[Molniya (explosive trap)|"Lightning" explosive devices]]. One of such cache, which was identified by Mitrokhin, exploded when Swiss authorities tried to remove it from woods near [[Bern]]. Several others caches (probably not equipped with the "Lightnings") were removed successfully.<ref name="KGB 472-476"/>
* Preparations for [[Nuclear terrorism|nuclear sabotage]]. Some of the allegedly hidden caches could contain portable [[tactical nuclear weapons]] known as RA-115 "[[suitcase bomb]]s" prepared to assassinate US leaders in the event of war, according to [[Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye|GRU]] defector [[Stanislav Lunev]].<ref name="Lunev">[[Stanislav Lunev]]. Through the Eyes of the Enemy: ''The Autobiography of Stanislav Lunev'', Regnery Publishing, Inc., 1998. {{ISBN|0-89526-390-4}}. These portable bombs can last for many years if wired to an electric source. "In case there is a loss of power, there is a battery backup. If the battery runs low, the weapon has a transmitter that sends a coded message – either by satellite or directly to a GRU post at a Russian embassy or consulate."</ref> Lunev states that he had personally looked for hiding places for weapons caches in the [[Shenandoah Valley]] area<ref name="Lunev"/> and that "it is surprisingly easy to smuggle nuclear weapons into the US" either across the Mexican border or using a small transport missile that can slip undetected when launched from a Russian airplane.<ref name="Lunev" />
* Extensive sabotage plans in London, Washington, Paris, Bonn, Rome, and other Western capitals have been revealed by KGB defector [[Oleg Lyalin]] in 1971, including plan to flood the [[London]] underground and deliver poison capsules to [[Whitehall]]. This disclosure triggered mass expulsion of Russian spies from London.<ref>''KGB in Europe'', pp. 499–500</ref>
* Disruption of the power supply in the entire [[New York State]] by KGB sabotage teams, which would be based along the [[Delaware River]], in the [[Big Spring Park (New York)|Big Spring Park]].<ref name="KGB 472-476"/>
* An "immensely detailed" plan to destroy "[[oil refineries]] and oil and gas pipelines across Canada from [[British Columbia]] to [[Montreal]]" (operation "Cedar") has been prepared, which took twelve years to complete.<ref name="KGB 472-476"/>
* A plan for sabotage of [[Hungry Horse Dam]] in [[Montana]].<ref name="KGB 472-476"/>
* A detailed plan to destroy the port of New York (target GRANIT); most vulnerable points of the port were marked at maps.<ref name="KGB 472-476"/>

==== Russia (1990 onwards)====
[[Alexander J. Motyl]], professor of political science at [[Rutgers University]] argues that Russia's direct and indirect involvement in the [[Russo-Ukrainian War|violence in eastern Ukraine]] qualifies as a state-sponsored terrorism, and that those involved qualify as "terrorist groups."{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}} Russia's behaviour towards its neighbours was alleged by [[Dalia Grybauskaitė]], the [[President of Lithuania]] to be evidence of state terrorism. Grybauskaitė stated that "Russia demonstrates the qualities of a [[terrorist state]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02dkjg6|title=BBC World Service – World Business Report, Lithuanian President: Russia 'behaving as a terrorist state', 'Putin has put sanctions on his own people'|work=BBC News|date=5 December 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109200131/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02dkjg6|archive-date=2015-01-09}}</ref>
During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian Defence Minister  [[Oleksii Reznikov]] defined [[Russian Armed Forces|Russian forces]] as "not military – they are terrorists, representatives of the terrorist state and this mark will be with them for a long time."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.mil.gov.ua/en/news/2022/03/02/address-by-the-minister-of-defence-of-ukraine-oleksii-reznikov/ | title=Address by the Minister of Defence of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov | newspaper=Ministry of Defence of Ukraine | access-date=2022-03-07 | archive-date=2022-03-07 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307083654/https://www.mil.gov.ua/en/news/2022/03/02/address-by-the-minister-of-defence-of-ukraine-oleksii-reznikov/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

US Senators [[Richard Blumenthal]] and [[Lindsey Graham]] announced the introduction of a resolution calling on US president [[Joe Biden]] to designate [[Russia]] as a state sponsor of terrorism by the United States for its war on [[Ukraine]] and conduct elsewhere under [[Vladimir Putin]].<ref>[https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/10/ukraine-war-senate-to-push-for-russia-to-be-named-terrorism-sponsor.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128064036/https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/10/ukraine-war-senate-to-push-for-russia-to-be-named-terrorism-sponsor.html|date=2022-11-28}} Dan Mangan ''CNBC'' May 10, 2022</ref> In the introduction, Senator Graham said, "Putin is a terrorist, and one of the most disruptive forces on the planet is [[Russia under Vladimir Putin|Putin's Russia]]."<ref>[https://www.voanews.com/a/us-lawmakers-push-biden-to-designate-russia-a-state-terror-sponsor/6580968.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221110160426/https://www.voanews.com/a/us-lawmakers-push-biden-to-designate-russia-a-state-terror-sponsor/6580968.html|date=2022-11-10}} Tatiana Vorozhko, ''Voice of America'', May 19, 2022</ref>

During the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the following countries and international organisations have recognised Russia as a "terrorist state" or a "state sponsor of terrorism":<ref>[https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-rosiya-derzhava-teroryst-rada/31803815.html   ''radiosvoboda''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814190330/https://www.radiosvoboda.org/amp/news-rosiya-derzhava-teroryst-rada/31803815.html |date=2022-08-14 }} 14 April 2022</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-13 |title=Further escalation in the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine (Resolution 2463) |url=https://pace.coe.int/en/files/31390/html |access-date=2022-10-13 |website=Parliamentary Assembly (Council of Europe) |archive-date=2022-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013154400/https://pace.coe.int/en/files/31390/html |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
*[[Czech Republic]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Czech lawmakers back resolution declaring current Russian regime 'terrorist' |url=https://english.nv.ua/nation/czechian-designates-russia-as-terrorist-regime-czech-news-50284554.html |access-date=17 November 2022 |archive-date=17 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117055825/https://english.nv.ua/nation/czechian-designates-russia-as-terrorist-regime-czech-news-50284554.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Estonia]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-18 |title=Estonian parliament declares Russia a terrorist state |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/as-the-third-country-to-estonia-declares-russia-a-terrorist-state/ |access-date=2022-10-18 |website=POLITICO |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-11-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119101230/https://www.politico.eu/article/as-the-third-country-to-estonia-declares-russia-a-terrorist-state/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Latvia]]<ref>[https://www.diena.lv/raksts/latvija/zinas/saeima-krieviju-atzist-par-terorismu-atbalstosu-valsti-14284320 ''Diena''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811091341/https://www.diena.lv/raksts/latvija/zinas/saeima-krieviju-atzist-par-terorismu-atbalstosu-valsti-14284320 |date=2022-08-11 }} 11 August 2022</ref>
*[[Lithuania]]<ref>[https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1691202/lithuania-recognises-war-in-ukraine-as-genocide-russia-as-terrorist-state ''LRT''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220712002658/https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1691202/lithuania-recognises-war-in-ukraine-as-genocide-russia-as-terrorist-state |date=2022-07-12 }} 10 May 2022</ref>
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*[[Netherlands]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Dutch parliament designates Russia a state sponsor of terrorism |date=24 November 2022 |url=https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/3621355-dutch-parliament-designates-russia-a-state-sponsor-of-terrorism.html |access-date=24 November 2022 |archive-date=24 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124185116/https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/3621355-dutch-parliament-designates-russia-a-state-sponsor-of-terrorism.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Poland]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tilles |first=Daniel |date=2022-10-26 |title=Polish Senate recognises Russia as a terrorist regime |url=https://notesfrompoland.com/2022/10/26/polish-senate-recognises-russia-as-a-terrorist-regime/ |access-date= |website=Notes From Poland |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026204324/https://notesfrompoland.com/2022/10/26/polish-senate-recognises-russia-as-a-terrorist-regime/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Slovakia]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Národná rada označila ruský režim za |url=https://dennikn.sk/minuta/3242196/ |website=Denník N |access-date=16 February 2023 |language=sk-SK |date=16 February 2023 |archive-date=16 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216115225/https://dennikn.sk/minuta/3242196 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Ukraine]]
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*The [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-13 |title=PACE adopts resolution declaring Russian regime as terrorist one |url=https://english.nv.ua/nation/pace-adopts-resolution-declaring-russian-regime-as-terrorist-50276526.html |access-date=2022-10-13 |website=The New Voice of Ukraine |language=en |archive-date=2022-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013131739/https://english.nv.ua/nation/pace-adopts-resolution-declaring-russian-regime-as-terrorist-50276526.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
*The [[European Parliament]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Ukraine war: European Parliament votes to declare Russia a 'state sponsor of terrorism' |date=23 November 2022 |url=https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/11/23/ukraine-war-european-parliament-declares-russia-a-state-sponsor-of-terrorism |access-date=23 November 2022 |archive-date=23 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123112023/https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/11/23/ukraine-war-european-parliament-declares-russia-a-state-sponsor-of-terrorism |url-status=live }}</ref>
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In 2023 Poland security services detained [[Russian spies in the Russo-Ukrainian War|a network of agents]] recruited by GRU initially for surveillance of military transports, and later tasked with arson, assassinations, terrorist attacks and derailing of weapons transports headed to Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-08-18 |title=Russia recruited operatives online to target weapons crossing Poland |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/18/ukraine-weapons-sabotage-gru-poland/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en |archive-date=2023-08-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818115511/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/18/ukraine-weapons-sabotage-gru-poland/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Saudi Arabia===
{{see also|Alleged Saudi government role in the September 11 attacks}}
While Saudi Arabia is often a secondary source of funds and support for terror movements who can find more motivated and ideologically invested benefactors, Saudi Arabia arguably remains the most prolific sponsor of international [[Islamist terrorism]], allegedly supporting groups as disparate as the Afghanistan [[Taliban]], [[Al Qaeda]], [[Lashkar-e-Taiba]] (LeT) and the [[Al-Nusra Front]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brownpoliticalreview.org/2014/12/financing-terrorism-saudi-arabia-and-its-foreign-affairs/|title=Financing Terrorism: Saudi Arabia and Its Foreign Affairs|author=Edward Clifford|work=brownpoliticalreview.org|access-date=19 September 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018060915/http://www.brownpoliticalreview.org/2014/12/financing-terrorism-saudi-arabia-and-its-foreign-affairs/|archive-date=18 October 2015|date=2014-12-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/05/wikileaks-cables-saudi-terrorist-funding |title=WikiLeaks cables portray Saudi Arabia as a cash machine for terrorists |access-date=2016-12-11 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161215023137/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/05/wikileaks-cables-saudi-terrorist-funding |archive-date=2016-12-15 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2010-12-05 |last1=Walsh |first1=Declan }}</ref>

Saudi Arabia is said to be the world's largest source of funds and promoter of [[Salafist jihadism]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-yousaf-butt-/saudi-wahhabism-islam-terrorism_b_6501916.html |title=How Saudi Wahhabism is the Fountainhead of Islamist Terrorism |website=[[HuffPost]] |access-date=2017-04-10 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409063500/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-yousaf-butt-/saudi-wahhabism-islam-terrorism_b_6501916.html |archive-date=2017-04-09 |date=2015-01-21}} ''The Huffington Post''</ref> which forms the ideological basis of terrorist groups such as [[al-Qaeda]], [[Taliban]], [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] and others. In a December 2009 diplomatic cable to U.S. State Department staff (made public in the [[United States diplomatic cables leak|diplomatic cable leaks]] the following year), [[United States Secretary of State|U.S. Secretary of State]] [[Hillary Clinton]] urged U.S. diplomats to increase efforts to block money from [[Gulf Arab states]] from going to terrorists in Pakistan and Afghanistan, writing that "Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide" and that "More needs to be done since Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for [[al-Qaeda]], the [[Taliban]], [[Lashkar-e-Taiba|LeT]] and other terrorist groups."<ref name=Guardian-WikiLeaks>{{cite news|last=Walsh|first=Declan|title=WikiLeaks cables portray Saudi Arabia as a cash machine for terrorists|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/05/wikileaks-cables-saudi-terrorist-funding|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=December 5, 2010|location=London|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161215023137/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/05/wikileaks-cables-saudi-terrorist-funding|archive-date=December 15, 2016}}</ref> An August 2009 State Department cable also said that the Pakistan-based [[Lashkar-e-Taiba]], which carried out the [[2008 Mumbai attacks]], used a Saudi-based front company to fund its activities in 2005.<ref name=Guardian-WikiLeaks /><ref>{{cite news|title=US embassy cables: Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists raise funds in Saudi Arabia|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/220186|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=December 5, 2010|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221111314/https://www.theguardian.com/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/220186|archive-date=December 21, 2016}}</ref>

The violence in [[Afghanistan]] and [[Pakistan]] is partly bankrolled by wealthy, conservative donors across the Arabian Sea whose governments do little to stop them.<ref name=Guardian-WikiLeaks /> Three other Arab countries which are listed as sources of militant money are [[Qatar]], [[Kuwait]], and the [[United Arab Emirates]], all neighbors of Saudi Arabia.<ref name=Guardian-WikiLeaks /><ref name="US_embassy">{{cite news|title=US embassy cables: Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network using United Arab Emirates as funding base|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/242756|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=December 5, 2010|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018060915/http://www.theguardian.com/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/242756|archive-date=October 18, 2015}}</ref>

According to two studies published in 2007 (one by [[Mohammed Hafez (academic)|Mohammed Hafez]] of the [[University of Missouri in Kansas City]] and the other by [[Robert Pape]] of the [[University of Chicago]]), most of the suicide bombers in [[Iraq]] are Saudis.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glasser|first=Susan B.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/14/AR2005051401270.html|title='Martyrs' In Iraq Mostly Saudis|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|date=May 15, 2005|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806035147/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/14/AR2005051401270.html|archive-date=August 6, 2017}}</ref><ref>See also: Hafez, Mohammed M. [http://www.powells.com/biblio?inkey=65-9781601270047-2 ''Suicide Bomber in Iraq''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222201450/http://www.powells.com/biblio?inkey=65-9781601270047-2 |date=2014-02-22 }}. United States Institute of Peace Press. {{ISBN|1601270046}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Roberts|first=Kristin|date=2007-12-19|title=Saudis biggest group of al Qaeda Iraq fighters: study|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-saudi-fighters-idUSN1962918820071219|access-date=2021-07-16|archive-date=2021-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716151350/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-saudi-fighters-idUSN1962918820071219|url-status=live}}</ref>

Fifteen of the 19 hijackers of the four airliners who were responsible for [[September 11 attacks|9/11]] originated from Saudi Arabia, two from the [[United Arab Emirates]], one from Egypt, and one from Lebanon.<ref>{{cite news|last=Johnston|first=David|title=Two Years Later: 9/11 Tactics; Official Says Qaeda Recruited Saudi Hijackers to Strain Ties|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/09/us/two-years-later-9-11-tactics-official-says-qaeda-recruited-saudi-hijackers.html|access-date=2011-09-04|newspaper=New York Times|date=September 9, 2003|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317015831/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/09/us/two-years-later-9-11-tactics-official-says-qaeda-recruited-saudi-hijackers.html|archive-date=March 17, 2012}}</ref> [[Osama bin Laden]] was born and educated in [[Saudi Arabia]].

Starting in the mid-1970s the [[Islamic resurgence]] was funded by an abundance of money from Saudi Arabian oil exports.<ref>Kepel, Gilles, ''Jihad: on the Trail of Political Islam'', Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, (2002), pp. 69–75</ref> The tens of billions of dollars in "[[petro-Islam]]" largess obtained from the recently heightened price of oil funded an estimated "90% of the expenses of the entire faith."<ref>Dawood al-Shirian, 'What Is Saudi Arabia Going to Do?' ''Al-Hayat'', May 19, 2003</ref>

Throughout the Sunni Muslim world, religious institutions for people both young and old, from children's [[madrasah|madrassas]] to high-level scholarships received Saudi funding,<ref>Abou al Fadl, Khaled, ''The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists'', HarperSanFrancisco, 2005, pp. 48–64</ref>
"books, scholarships, fellowships, and mosques" (for example, "more than 1500 [[mosque]]s were built and paid for with money obtained from public Saudi funds over the last 50 years"),<ref>Kepel, Gilles, ''Jihad: on the Trail of Political Islam'', Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, (2002), p. 72</ref> along with training in the Kingdom for the preachers and teachers who went on to teach and work at these universities, schools, mosques, etc.<ref>Nasr, Vali, ''The Shia Revival'', Norton, (2006), p. 155</ref>
The funding was also used to reward journalists and academics who followed the Saudis' strict interpretation of Islam; and satellite campuses were built around Egypt for [[Al-Azhar University|Al Azhar]], the world's oldest and most influential Islamic university.<ref>Murphy, Caryle, ''Passion for Islam'', (2002) p. 32</ref>

The interpretation of Islam promoted by this funding was the strict, conservative Saudi-based [[Wahhabism]] or [[Salafism]]. In its harshest form it preached that Muslims should not only "always oppose" infidels "in every way", but "hate them for their religion ... for Allah's sake", that [[democracy]] "is responsible for all the horrible wars of the 20th century", that [[Shia Islam|Shia]] and other non-Wahhabi Muslims were "[[Apostasy in Islam|infidels]]", etc.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-10-04|title=Saudi Publications on Hate Ideology Invade American Mosques {{!}} Freedom House|url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/special-reports/saudi-publications-hate-ideology-invade-american-mosques|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004171511/https://freedomhouse.org/report/special-reports/saudi-publications-hate-ideology-invade-american-mosques|url-status=dead|archive-date=2015-10-04|access-date=2021-05-07}}</ref> According to former [[Prime Minister of Singapore]] [[Lee Kuan Yew]], while this effort has by no means converted all, or even most, Muslims to the Wahhabist interpretation of Islam, it has done much to overwhelm more moderate local interpretations of Islam in [[Southeast Asia]], and to pitch the Saudi-interpretation of Islam as the "gold standard" of religion in minds of Muslims across the globe.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2009-07-13|title=An interview with Minister Mentor of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. (24-Sep-04) International Wire|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-25472708_ITM|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713151408/http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-25472708_ITM|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-07-13|access-date=2021-05-07}}</ref>

[[Patrick Cockburn]] accused Saudi Arabia of supporting extremist [[w:Islamism|Islamist]] groups in the [[Syrian Civil War]], writing: "In Syria, in early 2015, it supported the creation of the [[Army of Conquest]], primarily made up of the [[al-Qaeda]] affiliate the [[al-Nusra Front]] and the ideologically similar [[Ahrar al-Sham]], which won a series of victories against the [[Syrian Army]] in [[Idlib]] province."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/prince-mohammed-bin-salman-naive-arrogant-saudi-prince-is-playing-with-fire-a6804481.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110132143/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/prince-mohammed-bin-salman-naive-arrogant-saudi-prince-is-playing-with-fire-a6804481.html|url-status=dead|title=This naive, arrogant Saudi prince is playing with fire|date=January 9, 2016|archive-date=January 10, 2016|website=The Independent}}</ref>

While the Saudi government denies claims that it exports religious or cultural extremism, it is argued that by its nature, Wahhabism encourages intolerance and promotes terrorism.<ref>{{cite book |title=Focus on Islamic issues |last=Malbouisson |first=Cofie D. |year=2007 |isbn=978-1600212048 |pages=26–27|publisher=Nova Publishers }}</ref> Former [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] director [[James Woolsey]] described it as "the soil in which [[Al-Qaeda]] and its sister terrorist organizations are flourishing."<ref name="iags.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.iags.org/fuelingterror.html |title=Fueling Terror |publisher=Institute for the Analysis of Global Terror |access-date=29 July 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726163923/http://www.iags.org/fuelingterror.html |archive-date=26 July 2011 }}</ref> In 2015, [[Sigmar Gabriel]], [[Vice-Chancellor of Germany]], accused Saudi Arabia of supporting intolerance and extremism, saying: "Wahhabi mosques are financed all over the world by Saudi Arabia. In [[Germany]], many dangerous Islamists come from these communities."<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-germany-idUSKBN0TP0H720151206 "German Vice Chancellor warns Saudi Arabia over Islamist funding"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627034818/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-germany-idUSKBN0TP0H720151206 |date=2017-06-27}}, Reuters, 6 December 2015.</ref><ref>[http://www.dw.com/en/german-vice-chancellor-warns-saudi-arabia-over-islamist-funding-in-germany/a-18898295 "German vice chancellor warns Saudi Arabia over Islamist funding in Germany"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151228182924/http://www.dw.com/en/german-vice-chancellor-warns-saudi-arabia-over-islamist-funding-in-germany/a-18898295 |date=2015-12-28 }}, Deutsche Welle, 6 December 2015.</ref> In May 2016, The New York Times editorialised that the kingdom allied to the U.S. had "spent untold millions promoting Wahhabism, the radical form of Sunni Islam that inspired the [[September 11 attacks|9/11]] hijackers and that now inflames the Islamic State".<ref name="inflames">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/28/opinion/the-world-reaps-what-the-saudis-sow.html?_r=0|title=The World Reaps What the Saudis Sow|newspaper=The New York Times|date=27 May 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006161009/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/28/opinion/the-world-reaps-what-the-saudis-sow.html?_r=0|archive-date=6 October 2016|author=The Editorial Board}}</ref> Iranian [[Hamidreza Taraghi]], a hard-line analyst with ties to [[Iran’s supreme leader]], [[Ayatollah Ali Khamenei]], said, “ISIS ideologically, financially and logistically is fully supported and sponsored by Saudi Arabia...They are one and the same”.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/07/world/middleeast/iran-parliament-attack-khomeini-mausoleum.html |title=At Least 12 Killed in Pair of Terrorist Attacks in Iran |access-date=2017-06-08 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607233427/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/07/world/middleeast/iran-parliament-attack-khomeini-mausoleum.html |archive-date=2017-06-07 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2017-06-07 |last1=Erdbrink |first1=Thomas |last2=Mashal |first2=Mujib }}</ref>

In 2014, former [[Prime Minister of Iraq]] [[Nouri al-Maliki]] stated that Saudi Arabia and Qatar started the civil wars [[Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017)|in Iraq]] and [[Syrian Civil War|Syria]], and incited and encouraged terrorist movements, like [[ISIL]] and [[al-Qaeda]], supporting them politically and in the media, with money and by buying weapons for them. Saudi Arabia denied the accusations which were criticised by the country, the [[Carnegie Middle East Center]] and the [[Royal United Services Institute]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Iraqi PM Maliki says Saudi, Qatar openly funding violence in Anbar|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-saudi-qatar-idUSBREA2806S20140309|access-date=10 June 2017|work=Reuters|date=March 9, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616043918/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-saudi-qatar-idUSBREA2806S20140309|archive-date=16 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Black|first1=Ian|title=Saudi Arabia rejects Iraqi accusations of Isis support|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/19/saudi-arabia-rejects-iraqi-accusations-isis-support|access-date=10 June 2017|work=The Guardian|date=19 June 2014|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701104234/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/19/saudi-arabia-rejects-iraqi-accusations-isis-support|archive-date=1 July 2017}}</ref>

One of the leaked [[Podesta emails]] from August 2014, addressed to [[John Podesta]], identifies [[Saudi Arabia]] and [[Qatar]] as providing clandestine financial and logistic aid to [[ISIL]] and other "radical Sunni groups." The email outlines a plan of action against [[ISIL]], and urges putting pressure on [[Saudi Arabia]] and [[Qatar]] to end their alleged support for the group.<ref>{{cite news |title=Clinton Foundation donors Saudi Arabia and Qatar give Isis clandestine financial and logistic support, says Hillary Clinton in leaked emails |publisher=[[Belfast Telegraph]] |date=11 October 2016 |access-date=23 January 2017 |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/clinton-foundation-donors-saudi-arabia-and-qatar-give-isis-clandestine-financial-and-logistic-support-says-hillary-clinton-in-leaked-emails-35121625.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20161215081014/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/clinton-foundation-donors-saudi-arabia-and-qatar-give-isis-clandestine-financial-and-logistic-support-says-hillary-clinton-in-leaked-emails-35121625.html |archive-date=15 December 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Hillary Clinton emails leak: Wikileaks documents claim Democratic nominee 'thinks Saudi Arabia and Qatar fund Isis' |last=McKernan |first=Bethan |work=[[The Independent]] |date=11 October 2016 |access-date=23 January 2017 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/hillary-clinton-emails-leak-wikileaks-saudi-arabia-qatar-isis-podesta-latest-a7355466.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129004124/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/hillary-clinton-emails-leak-wikileaks-saudi-arabia-qatar-isis-podesta-latest-a7355466.html |archive-date=29 January 2017 }}</ref> Whether the email was originally written by [[Hillary Clinton]], her advisor [[Sidney Blumenthal]], or another person is unclear.<ref>{{cite news |title=In leaked email, Clinton claims Saudi and Qatari governments fund ISIS |last1=Goodwin |first1=Liz |last2=Isikoff |first2=Michael |publisher=[[Yahoo! News]] |date=11 October 2016 |access-date=23 January 2017 |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/in-leaked-email-clinton-claims-saudi-and-qatari-governments-fund-isis-221758254.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123051757/https://www.yahoo.com/news/in-leaked-email-clinton-claims-saudi-and-qatari-governments-fund-isis-221758254.html |archive-date=23 January 2017 }}</ref>

Following the [[2017 Tehran attacks]], Iranian authorities such as members of the [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]] and the [[List of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Iran|Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs]] [[Javad Zarif]], have accused Saudi Arabia of being behind the attacks.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/20/turkey-allows-peshmerga-forces-to-travel-to-kobani|title=Turkey to allow Kurdish peshmerga across its territory to fight in Kobani|date=2014-10-20|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810205800/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/20/turkey-allows-peshmerga-forces-to-travel-to-kobani|archive-date=2017-08-10|newspaper=The Guardian|last1=Istanbul|first1=Martin Chulov Constanze Letsch in|last2=Irbil|first2=Fazel Hawramy in}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite news|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/tr/originals/2013/08/turkey-considers-support-for-al-nusra.html|title=Turkey Reconsiders Support for Jabhat al-Nusra|first=Semih|last=Idiz|publisher=Al-Monitor|date=August 13, 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170429221027/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/tr/originals/2013/08/turkey-considers-support-for-al-nusra.html|archive-date=2017-04-29}}</ref> In a Twitter post, Zarif wrote, "Terror-sponsoring despots threaten to bring the fight to our homeland. Proxies attack what their masters despise most: the seat of democracy". His statements referred to the Saudi deputy crown prince [[Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud|Mohammad bin Salman]]'s threats against the country about a month earlier, in which bin Salman revealed their policy to drag the regional conflict into Iranian borders.<ref name=":0"/><ref name=":1"/><ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-06-20|title=Farsnews|url=http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960318000445|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620155048/http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960318000445|url-status=dead|archive-date=2017-06-20|access-date=2021-05-07}}</ref> [[Adel al-Jubeir]], Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, denied his country's involvement in the attacks and said Riyadh had no knowledge of who was responsible for them.<ref name="SA-Rea">{{cite news|title=Saudi minister denies his country involved in Iran attacks|url=http://www.arabnews.com/node/1111496/middle-east|work=Arab News|date=7 June 2017|access-date=8 June 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608120511/http://www.arabnews.com/node/1111496/middle-east|archive-date=8 June 2017}}</ref> He condemned terrorist attacks and killing of the innocent "anywhere it occurs".<ref name="SA-Rea"/>

In 2017 [[Bob Corker]], then-chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations|US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations]], stated that the Saudi support for terrorism "dwarfs what Qatar is doing"; the statement was made after Saudi Arabia cut ties with Qatar, citing alleged support of terrorism by the latter.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/07/bob-corker-saudi-support-terror-dwarfs-qatar-170713043902732.html |title=Bob Corker: Saudi terrorism support 'dwarfs' Qatar's &#124; News &#124; al Jazeera |access-date=2017-12-29 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229234657/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/07/bob-corker-saudi-support-terror-dwarfs-qatar-170713043902732.html |archive-date=2017-12-29 }}</ref>

According to ''[[Newsweek]]'', the [[United Kingdom]] government may decide to keep secret the results of an official inquiry into the supporters of the Islamist militant groups in the country. The findings are believed to have references to Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newsweek.com/uk-report-terror-saudi-arabia-public-finding-618508 |title=U.K. Report on terrorism and Saudi Arabia called too sensitive to be made public |website=[[Newsweek]] |access-date=2017-08-10 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810182031/http://www.newsweek.com/uk-report-terror-saudi-arabia-public-finding-618508 |archive-date=2017-08-10 |date=2017-05-31 }}</ref>

Following various accusations relating to sponsoring terrorism, Saudi Arabia became eager to join the [[Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering]] (FATF). However, a review conducted by the FATF on Saudi’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing system, pointed that the kingdom has not been able to tackle the risk of [[terrorism financing]] by third-party and facilitators, as well as individuals financing international terrorist organizations.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/saudi-arabia-still-isnt-doing-enough-to-fight-the-financing-of-terrorism/2019/02/19/bdb300d4-3454-11e9-a400-e481bf264fdc_story.html|title=Saudi Arabia still isn't doing enough to fight the financing of terrorism|access-date=19 February 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post|archive-date=20 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220022013/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/saudi-arabia-still-isnt-doing-enough-to-fight-the-financing-of-terrorism/2019/02/19/bdb300d4-3454-11e9-a400-e481bf264fdc_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/mutualevaluations/documents/mer-saudi-arabia-2018.html|title=Saudi Arabia's measures to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation|access-date=24 September 2018|archive-date=28 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928125124/http://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/mutualevaluations/documents/mer-saudi-arabia-2018.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2019, Saudi Arabia has been granted a full membership of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) becoming the first Arab country awarded this full membership. This was following the group’s Annual General Meeting in Orlando. The group is responsible for designing and issuing standards and policies that face money laundering and terrorist financing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arabnews.com/node/1514241/saudi-arabia|title=Saudi Arabia becomes first Arab country to be granted full FATF membership|date=2019-06-22|website=Arab News|language=en|access-date=2019-06-24|archive-date=2019-06-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623185347/http://www.arabnews.com/node/1514241/saudi-arabia|url-status=live}}</ref>

Attorneys who defended [[Saudi Arabia]] in the 9/11 lawsuits, are reported to be representing crown prince [[Mohammed bin Salman]] in the alleged targeting and assassination of an ex-intelligence official from Saudi Arabia. The cases filed in August accused the prince of committing human rights violations, murder, and torture.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/saudi-crown-prince-lawsuits/2020/11/02/ca23820a-1a06-11eb-aeec-b93bcc29a01b_story.html|title=Saudi crown prince girds for legal battle in a changing Washington over human rights allegations|access-date=2 November 2020|newspaper=The Washington Post|archive-date=2 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102173741/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/saudi-crown-prince-lawsuits/2020/11/02/ca23820a-1a06-11eb-aeec-b93bcc29a01b_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Sudan===
[[Sudan]] was considered a state sponsor of terrorism by the US government from 1993 to 2020, and was targeted by United Nations sanctions in 1996 for its role in sheltering suspects of an attempted assassination of [[Hosni Mubarak]], president of Egypt. Sudan has been suspected of harboring members of the militant organizations Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Abu Nidal Organization, Jamaat al-Islamiyya, and the [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad]], as well as supporting insurgencies in Uganda, Tunisia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Eritrea.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/state-sponsors-sudan |title=State Sponsors: Sudan |access-date=2017-05-18 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819045032/https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/state-sponsors-sudan |archive-date=2017-08-19 }}</ref> Voice of America News reported that Sudan is suspected by US officials of allowing the [[Lord's Resistance Army]] to operate within its borders.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.voanews.com/state-department-news/2013/05/16/joseph-kony-and-lra-in-sudan/ |title=Joseph Kony and LRA in Sudan « State of Affairs |access-date=2017-05-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170521045423/http://blogs.voanews.com/state-department-news/2013/05/16/joseph-kony-and-lra-in-sudan/ |archive-date=2017-05-21 }}</ref>

In December 1994, [[Eritrea]] broke [[Sudan-Eritrea relations|diplomatic relations with Sudan]] after a long period of increasing tension between the two countries due to a series of cross-border incidents involving the [[Eritrean Islamic Jihad]] (EIJ). Although the attacks did not pose a threat to the stability of the [[Government of Eritrea]] (the infiltrators have generally been killed or captured by government forces), the Eritreans believe the [[National Islamic Front]] (NIF) in [[Khartoum]] supported, trained, and armed the insurgents. After many months of negotiations with the Sudanese to try to end the incursions, the Government of Eritrea concluded that the NIF did not intend to change its policy and broke relations. Subsequently, the Government of Eritrea hosted a conference of Sudanese opposition leaders in June 1995 in an effort to help the opposition unite and to provide a credible alternative to the present government in Khartoum. Eritrea resumed diplomatic relations with Sudan on December 10, 2005.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sudan, Eritrea resume severed diplomatic relations |url=http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/051210/2005121017.html |access-date=2006-09-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070116142921/http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/051210/2005121017.html |archive-date=2007-01-16 }}</ref> Since then, Sudan has accused Eritrea, along with [[Chad]], of supporting rebels.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-06-29|title=afrol News – Eritrea, Chad accused of aiding Sudan rebels|url=http://www.afrol.com/printable_article/13898|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120629064002/http://www.afrol.com/printable_article/13898|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-06-29|access-date=2021-05-07|website=archive.ph}}</ref> The undemarcated border with Sudan previously posed a problem for Eritrean external relations.<ref>{{cite news
 |url         = https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3400575.stm
 |title       = Eritrea-Sudan relations plummet
 |publisher   = BBC
 |date        = 2004-01-15
 |access-date  = 2006-06-07
 |location    = London
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20040609133726/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3400575.stm
 |archive-date = 2004-06-09
}}</ref>

Sudan was accused of allowing members of Hamas to travel to and live in the country, as well as raise funds,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2014/239410.htm |title=Chapter 3: State Sponsors of Terrorism Overview |access-date=2017-08-17 |archive-date=2023-11-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231113105328/https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2014/239410.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> though the presence of terrorists in Sudan has largely been a secondary concern in terms of Sudanese sponsorship of terror to the facilitation of material supplies to terrorist groups<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.thecipherbrief.com/article/africa/sudan-still-state-sponsor-terror-1089| title=Is Sudan Still a State Sponsor of Terror?| date=2017-05-11}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and the use of Sudan by Palestine-based terrorist organizations has declined in recent years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/africasource/sudan-still-a-state-sponsor-of-terrorism |title=Sudan Still a "State Sponsor of Terrorism"? |access-date=2017-05-18 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429140152/http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/africasource/sudan-still-a-state-sponsor-of-terrorism |archive-date=2017-04-29 |date=2016-06-08 }}</ref> The [[Allied Democratic Forces]], designated as a terrorist organization by Uganda, is said to be supported by Sudan and suspected of affiliation with widely designated terrorist group [[Al-Shabaab (militant group)|Al-Shabaab]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/adf.htm |title=Allied Democratic Forces |access-date=2015-11-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117014341/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/adf.htm |archive-date=2015-11-17 }}</ref>

Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda are said to have been formerly based in Sudan during the early 1990s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/sudan/terrorist.htm |title=State Sponsor of Terrorism |access-date=2017-05-18 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120073612/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/sudan/terrorist.htm |archive-date=2015-01-20 }}</ref> The US and Israel have conducted operations against Sudanese targets affiliated with terrorist groups as recently as 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.defenddemocracy.org/sudans-sponsorship-of-terrorism-violence2 |title=Sudan's Sponsorship of Terrorism & Violence |access-date=2017-05-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711002206/http://www.defenddemocracy.org/sudans-sponsorship-of-terrorism-violence2 |archive-date=2017-07-11 }}</ref>

Following the fall of Omar Al Bashir as the president of Sudan and the visit of the newly appointed Sudanese Prime Minister [[Abdalla Hamdok]] to Washington, the United States agreed to exchange ambassadors and said it would consider dropping Sudan from its list of countries of state sponsored terrorism.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/04/us/politics/trump-sudan-diplomacy.html|title=Trump Administration Moves to Upgrade Diplomatic Ties With Sudan|first=Edward|last=Wong|date=December 4, 2019|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=January 8, 2020|archive-date=December 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214110545/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/04/us/politics/trump-sudan-diplomacy.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

On December 14, 2020, the United States officially removed Sudan from the list after it [[Israel–Sudan normalization agreement|agreed to establish relations]] with [[Israel]] and pay $335m to US victims of terror attacks.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55300252 |title=US ends Sudan's listing as sponsor of terror |website=BBC News |date=14 December 2020 |access-date=14 December 2020 |archive-date=14 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214121208/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55300252 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Syria===
{{further|Terrorism in Syria#Alleged Syrian state-sponsored terrorism}}
After his seizure of power in 1970, [[Hafez al-Assad]] allied Ba'athist Syria closely to the [[Eastern Bloc]] and adopted an [[Anti-Zionism|anti-Zionist]], [[Anti-Americanism|anti-American]] strategy in the region by militarizing the Syrian state.<ref name="worldpoliticsreview.com">Sources:
*{{Cite news |last=Ker-Lindsay |first=James |date=27 April 2023 |title=Is Syria No Longer a Pariah State? |work=World Politics Review |url=https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/syria-pariah-state/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602100607/https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/syria-pariah-state/ |archive-date=2 June 2023 }}
*{{Cite web |last=Lundius |first=Jan |date=21 August 2019 |title=The Syrian Tragedy |url=https://www.globalissues.org/news/2019/08/21/25577 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005202056/https://www.globalissues.org/news/2019/08/21/25577 |archive-date=5 October 2021 |website=Global Issues }}
*{{Cite book |last=Pipes |first=Daniel |title=Syria: Beyond the Peace Process |publisher=Washington Institute for Near East Policy |year=1996 |isbn=0-944029-64-7 |location=Washington DC, USA |pages=1–17}}
*{{Cite book |last=Burkley |first=Shane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R0tkEAAAQBAJ&dq=hafez+al-assad+sanctified+one&pg=PT175 |title=No pasarán! Antifascist Dispatches from a World in Crisis |publisher=AK Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-84935-482-0 |location=Edinburgh, UK |lccn=2022935894 |access-date=2024-03-13 |archive-date=2023-08-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828031016/https://books.google.com/books?id=R0tkEAAAQBAJ&dq=hafez+al-assad+sanctified+one&pg=PT175 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Ba'athist Syrian government itself was accused of engaging in [[state sponsored terrorism]] by U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] and by the [[United States Department of State|U.S. State Department]] since 1979.<ref>{{Cite web|website=CNN.com|title=U.S. hits Syria with sanctions|date=May 11, 2004|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/05/11/us.syria/|access-date=2021-07-16|archive-date=2021-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716152216/https://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/05/11/us.syria/|url-status=live}}</ref> Syria was designated as a "[[State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)|State Sponsor of Terrorism]]" by the United States in 1979 for Hafez's [[Syrian occupation of Lebanon|occupation policy in Lebanon]] and financing of numerous militant groups like [[Kurdistan Workers' Party|PKK]], [[Hezbollah]], and several Iranian-backed terrorist groups.<ref name="Ker-Lindsay">{{Cite news |last=Ker-Lindsay |first=James |date=27 April 2023 |title=Is Syria No Longer a Pariah State? |work=World Politics Review |url=https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/syria-pariah-state/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602100607/https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/syria-pariah-state/ |archive-date=2 June 2023}}</ref>

After the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|fall of Soviet Union]], the Syrian government lost its primary military supplier and geo-political ally; and became a [[pariah state]], isolated in the international arena for its destabilizing policies and severe domestic repression.<ref name="worldpoliticsreview.com"/> The 30-year rule of [[Hafez al-Assad]] was widely viewed as a force of destabilization in the region due to Syrian military's occupation of Lebanon and Assad government's policies of facilitating Iran-aligned terrorist groups.<ref name="Ker-Lindsay"/> The European Community met on 10 November 1986 to discuss the [[Hindawi affair]], an attempt to bomb an [[El Al]] flight out of [[London]], and the subsequent arrest and trial in the UK of Nizar Hindawi, who allegedly received Syrian government support after the bombing, and possibly beforehand.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/24/newsid_2478000/2478505.stm 1986: On this day 24 October 1986: UK cuts links with Syria over bomb plot]  BBC 24 October</ref> The European response was to impose sanctions against Syria and state that these measures were intended "to send Syria the clearest possible message that what has happened is absolutely unacceptable."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Amiel|first=Sandrine|date=2021-06-17|title=As diplomats return, is Europe rebuilding bridges with Assad's Syria?|url=https://www.euronews.com/2021/06/17/which-eu-states-are-rebuilding-diplomatic-relations-with-assad-s-syria|access-date=2021-07-16|website=euronews|language=en|archive-date=2021-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716152517/https://www.euronews.com/2021/06/17/which-eu-states-are-rebuilding-diplomatic-relations-with-assad-s-syria|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Marshall|first=Tyler|date=1986-11-11|title=11 of 12 in Common Market Agree to Sanctions on Syria|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-11-11-mn-24800-story.html|access-date=2021-07-16|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716152903/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-11-11-mn-24800-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

After his succession in 2000, Bashar maintained core aspects of his father's foreign policy.<ref name="Ker-Lindsay"/> On 14 February 2005, [[Rafic Hariri]], the former prime minister of Lebanon, was [[Assassination of Rafic Hariri|assassinated]] in a massive truck-bomb explosion in [[Beirut]], killing 22 people and injuring 220 more. Syrian government was widely blamed for perpetrating the terrorist attack.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2015/0214/Rafik-Hariri-In-Lebanon-assassination-reverberates-10-years-later |title=Rafik Hariri: In Lebanon, assassination reverberates 10 years later |journal=The Christian Science Monitor |access-date=20 April 2015 |date=14 February 2015 |archive-date=20 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420011320/http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2015/0214/Rafik-Hariri-In-Lebanon-assassination-reverberates-10-years-later |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Bashar al-Assad]] is widely regarded to have ordered the launch of the terrorist operation that targeted Rafic Hariri. International investigations revealed direct participation of members in the highest echelons of the Syrian government.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Coughlin |first=Con |title=Assad: The Triumph of Tyranny |publisher=Pan Macmillan |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-5290-7490-1 |location=6 Briset Street, London EC1M 5NR, UK |pages=80–97 |chapter=5: First Blood}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=6 August 2020 |title=The 2003 meeting that set the stage for Hariri's assassination |work=The Arab Weekly |url=https://thearabweekly.com/2003-meeting-set-stage-hariris-assassination |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214161120/https://thearabweekly.com/2003-meeting-set-stage-hariris-assassination |archive-date=14 February 2021}}</ref> A UN investigation commission's report, published on 20 October 2005, revealed that high-ranking members of [[Syrian intelligence]] and the ruling [[Assad family]] had directly supervised the killing.<ref>{{Cite news |date=21 October 2005 |title=UN Harīrī probe implicates Syria |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4362698.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051107092900/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4362698.stm |archive-date=7 November 2005}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kifner |first1=John |last2=Hoge |first2=Warren |date=21 October 2005 |title=Top Syrian Seen as Prime Suspect in Assassination |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/21/world/middleeast/top-syrian-seen-as-prime-suspect-in-assassination.html |access-date=2023-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529190850/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/21/world/middleeast/top-syrian-seen-as-prime-suspect-in-assassination.html |archive-date=29 May 2015 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mehlis |first=Detlev |date=19 October 2005 |title=Report of the International Independent Investigation Commission Established Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1595 (2005) |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/21_10_05_mehlisreport.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051021233807/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/21_10_05_mehlisreport.pdf |archive-date=21 October 2005 |url-status=live |journal=}}</ref>

After the [[U.S. invasion of Iraq]] in 2003, Bashar supported the [[Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011)|Iraqi insurgency]] against the United States and the [[Iraqi Interim Government|Iraqi interim government]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mansour |first1=Imad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xYriDwAAQBAJ |title=Shocks and Rivalries in the Middle East and North Africa |last2=Thompson |first2=William R. |publisher=Georgetown University Press |year=2020 |isbn=9781626167681 |pages=117, 118 |access-date=2024-03-13 |archive-date=2023-10-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012162224/https://books.google.com/books?id=xYriDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Syrian government allowed numerous fighters to pass through Syrian borders to fight the [[U.S. occupation of Iraq|American occupation forces]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harris |first=William W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XwUTDAAAQBAJ |title=Lebanon: A History, 600-2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2012 |isbn=9780190217839 |page=267 |access-date=2024-03-13 |archive-date=2023-09-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230916193110/https://books.google.com/books?id=XwUTDAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri]], Secretary-General of the [[Iraqi Ba'ath Party|Iraqi Ba'ath party]], had close relations with Ba'athist Syria. After the [[American invasion of Iraq]] in 2003, al-Douri reportedly fled to [[Damascus]], from where he co-ordinated with several [[Anti-Americanism|anti-American]] militant groups during the [[Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011)|Iraqi insurgency]].<ref>{{citation |last=Nance |first=Malcolm |title=The Terrorists of Iraq: Inside the Strategy and Tactics of the Iraq |date=18 December 2014 |authorlink=Malcolm Nance}}</ref><ref name="An Intelligence Vet Explains ISIS, Yemen, and the Dick Cheney of Iraq2">{{cite web |date=22 April 2015 |title=An Intelligence Vet Explains ISIS, Yemen, and "the Dick Cheney of Iraq" |url=http://phasezero.gawker.com/an-intelligence-vet-explains-isis-yemen-and-the-dick-1699407909 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151228125548/http://phasezero.gawker.com/an-intelligence-vet-explains-isis-yemen-and-the-dick-1699407909 |archive-date=28 December 2015 |access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref> Throughout the years of the anti-American insurgency in Iraq, thousands of [[al-Qaeda]] fighters entered Iraq through Syria.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Scarborough |first1=Rowan |date=19 August 2013 |title=Al Qaeda 'rat line' from Syria to Iraq turns back against Assad |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/aug/19/al-qaeda-rat-line-from-syria-to-iraq-turns-back-ag/?page=all |access-date=8 March 2015 |work=The Washington Times |archive-date=20 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320071720/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/aug/19/al-qaeda-rat-line-from-syria-to-iraq-turns-back-ag/?page=all |url-status=live }}</ref> According to several sources, [[Assef Shawkat]], then-chief of Syrian military intelligence and Bashar al-Assad's nephew, was reportedly a key Syrian facilitator of the logistic networks of [[Al-Qaeda in Iraq]] (AQI).<ref name="Joscelyn">{{cite news |last=Joscelyn |first=Thomas |date=24 July 2012 |title=Slain Syrian official supported al Qaeda in Iraq |url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/07/slain_syrian_officia.php |access-date=3 February 2016 |work=The Long War Journal |archive-date=5 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205160435/http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/07/slain_syrian_officia.php |url-status=live }}</ref> Leaked cables of [[U.S. State Department]] contained remarks by American general [[David Petraeus]] which stated that "Bashar al-Asad was well aware that his brother-in-law 'Asif Shawqat, Director of [[Military Intelligence Directorate (Syria)|Syrian Military Intelligence]], had detailed knowledge of the activities of AQI facilitator [[Abu Ghadiya]], who was using Syrian territory to bring foreign fighters and suicide bombers into Iraq".<ref name="Joscelyn"/>

In 2016, the [[United States District Court for the District of Columbia|US district court of Columbia]] declared that the financial and logistical support of the Syrian government was crucial for establishing a well-structured pathway for the fighters of Al-Qaeda in Iraq in carrying out anti-American combat operations throughout the [[Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011)|Iraqi insurgency]]. The court further stated that Syria "became a crucial base for AQI", by hosting several associates of [[Abu Musab al-Zarqawi|Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi]] and leading commanders of the insurgency, and stated that Syria's policies "led to the deaths of hundreds of Americans in Iraq". The district court also found evidence of [[Military Intelligence Directorate (Syria)|Syrian military intelligence]] assisting [[Al-Qaeda in Iraq]] and giving "crucial material support" to AQI militants who carried out the [[2005 Amman bombings]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Akkad |first=Dania |date=19 September 2017 |title=Syrian state helped al-Qaeda bomb Jordan hotels, US court finds |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syrian-state-helped-al-qaeda-bomb-jordan-hotels-us-court-finds |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706041730/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syrian-state-helped-al-qaeda-bomb-jordan-hotels-us-court-finds |archive-date=6 July 2019 |work=Middle East Eye}}</ref>

===Turkey===
{{See also|Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War#Related criticism of Turkey|Turkish support for Hamas}}

[[Francis Ricciardone]], [[United States Ambassador to Turkey]] from 2011 to 2014, claims that Turkey had directly supported and worked with [[al-Nusra Front]] and [[Ahrar al-Sham]] in the Syrian conflict for a period of time.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/11093478/Turkish-government-co-operated-with-al-Qaeda-in-Syria-says-former-US-ambassador.html|title=Turkish government co-operated with al-Qaeda in Syria, says former US ambassador|first1=Richard|last1=Spencer|first2=Raf|last2=Sanchez|publisher=Telegraph|date=September 12, 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140912231632/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/11093478/Turkish-government-co-operated-with-al-Qaeda-in-Syria-says-former-US-ambassador.html|archive-date=2014-09-12}}</ref> [[Syria]], the [[United Arab Emirates]],<ref name="terror groups by UAE">{{cite news|date=16 November 2014|title=List of terror groups published by UAE|url=http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/government/list-of-terror-groups-published-by-uae-1.1413219|newspaper=Gulf News|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409155435/http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/government/list-of-terror-groups-published-by-uae-1.1413219|archive-date=9 April 2016}}</ref> [[Russia]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dockery|first=Wesley|date=2016-09-12|title=What is the Ahrar Al-Sham organization in Syria? {{!}} DW|url=https://www.dw.com/en/what-is-the-ahrar-al-sham-organization-in-syria/a-19545783|access-date=2021-07-16|website=[[Deutsche Welle]]|language=en-GB|archive-date=2019-04-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415104020/https://www.dw.com/en/what-is-the-ahrar-al-sham-organization-in-syria/a-19545783|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Iran]] and [[Egypt]] have designated Ahrar al-Sham a terrorist organization<ref name="al-Masdar Saudi Arabia blocks peace talks">{{cite web|url=http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/saudi-arabia-blocks-peace-talks-on-syria/|title=Saudi Arabia blocks peace talks on Syria|author=Chris Tomson|work=Al-Masdar News|date=21 January 2016|access-date=16 February 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128082653/http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/saudi-arabia-blocks-peace-talks-on-syria/|archive-date=28 January 2016}}</ref> but the U.S. has not.<ref name="U.S. Department of State Ahrar al-Sham not an terrorist organization">{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2016/05/257673.htm#SYRIA2|title=Daily Press Briefing|date=24 May 2016|work=U.S. Department of State|access-date=27 May 2016|archive-date=27 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227121553/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2016/05/257673.htm#SYRIA2|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[United Nations Security Council]] and many countries including the US class al-Nusra as a terrorist organisation;<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/12/201759.htm|title=Terrorist Designations of the al-Nusrah Front as an Alias for al-Qa'ida in Iraq|work=U.S. Department of State|access-date=2017-03-21|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170130213913/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/12/201759.htm|archive-date=2017-01-30}}</ref> it was the official Syrian branch of [[al-Qaeda]] until July 2016, when it ostensibly split.<ref name=Rebrand>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36916606|title=Syrian Nusra Front announces split from al-Qaeda|date=28 July 2016|access-date=28 July 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160728183158/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36916606|archive-date=28 July 2016}}</ref><ref name="glob.post8-11-13">{{cite web|url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/131108/zawahiri-disbands-main-qaeda-faction-syria-0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109005944/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/131108/zawahiri-disbands-main-qaeda-faction-syria-0|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 November 2013|title=Zawahiri disbands main Qaeda faction in Syria|publisher=GlobalPost|date=8 November 2013|access-date=15 November 2013}}</ref>

[[Al-Monitor]] claimed in 2013 that Turkey was reconsidering its support for Nusra, and Turkey's designation of the Nusra Front as a terrorist group since June 2014 was seen as an indication of it giving up on the group.<ref name=":1"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/06/idiz-turkey-syria-opposition-nusra-terrorist-unsc-erdogan.html|title=Why is Jabhat al-Nusra no longer useful to Turkey?|first=Semih|last=Idiz|publisher=Al-Monitor|date=June 10, 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140611032014/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/06/idiz-turkey-syria-opposition-nusra-terrorist-unsc-erdogan.html|archive-date=2014-06-11}}</ref>

Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia supported the [[Army of Conquest]], a coalition of [[Salafist]] and [[Islamist]] Syrian rebel groups formed in March 2015<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-32540436|title=Syria: How a new rebel unity is making headway against the regime|publisher=BBC|author=Lina Sinjab|date=2015-05-01|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011210717/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-32540436|archive-date=2017-10-11|work=BBC News}}</ref> that included the al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham, but that also included non-al-Qaeda-linked Islamist factions, such as the [[Sham Legion]], that have received covert arms support from the United States.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/02/world/middleeast/syria-russia-airstrikes-rebels-army-conquest-jaish-al-fatah.html?_r=0|title=A Look at the Army of Conquest, a Prominent Rebel Alliance in Syria|author=Ben Hubbard|date=2015-10-01|newspaper=New York Times|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025235415/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/02/world/middleeast/syria-russia-airstrikes-rebels-army-conquest-jaish-al-fatah.html?_r=0|archive-date=2015-10-25}}</ref> According to ''[[The Independent]]'', some Turkish officials admitted giving logistical and intelligence support to the command center of the coalition, but denied giving direct help to al-Nusra, while acknowledging that the group would be beneficiaries. It also reported that some rebels and officials claim that material support in the form of money and weapons was given to the coalition by Saudis with Turkey facilitating its passage.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-crisis-turkey-and-saudi-arabia-shock-western-countries-by-supporting-anti-assad-jihadists-10242747.html|title=Turkey and Saudi Arabia alarm the West by backing Islamist extremists the Americans had bombed in Syria|first=Kim|last=Sengupta|work=The Independent|date=May 12, 2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20151001085600/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-crisis-turkey-and-saudi-arabia-shock-western-countries-by-supporting-anti-assad-jihadists-10242747.html|archive-date=2015-10-01}}</ref>

The [[2014 National Intelligence Organisation scandal in Turkey|2014 National Intelligence Organisation scandal]] caused a major controversy in Turkey. The critiques of the government claimed that the Turkish government has been providing arms to ISIL,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/97017/CHP_tutanaklari_acikladi__O_tirlardan_onlarca_fuze_cikti.html|title=CHP tutanakları açıkladı: O tırlardan onlarca füze çıktı|language=tr|publisher=Cumhuriyet|date=July 21, 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141119204023/http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/97017/CHP_tutanaklari_acikladi__O_tirlardan_onlarca_fuze_cikti.html|archive-date=2014-11-19|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="samanyoluhaber.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.samanyoluhaber.com/gundem/Kilicdaroglu-ISIDe-giden-silahlarin-belgesini-gosterdi/1064168/|title=Kılıçdaroğlu IŞİD'e giden silahların belgesini gösterdi|language=tr|publisher=Samanyolu Haber|date=October 14, 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170429223320/http://www.shaber3.com/gundem/Kilicdaroglu-ISIDe-giden-silahlarin-belgesini-gosterdi/1064168/|archive-date=2017-04-29|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="t24.com.tr">{{cite news|url=http://t24.com.tr/haber/kilicdaroglu-bizim-tezkere-onerimiz-millidir-yabanci-asker-de-isgal-de-yok-icerisinde,273829|title=Kılıçdaroğlu IŞİD'e giden silahların belgesini gösterdi|language=tr|publisher=T24|date=October 14, 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170429223753/http://t24.com.tr/haber/kilicdaroglu-bizim-tezkere-onerimiz-millidir-yabanci-asker-de-isgal-de-yok-icerisinde,273829|archive-date=2017-04-29|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=belge>{{cite web|url=http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/video/video/130347/Kilicdaroglu___Davutoglu_belge_istiyordun__al_sana_belge_.html|title=Kılıçdaroğlu: 'Davutoğlu belge istiyordun, al sana belge'|language=tr|publisher=Cumhuriyet|date=October 14, 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170429230856/http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/video/video/130347/Kilicdaroglu___Davutoglu_belge_istiyordun__al_sana_belge_.html|archive-date=2017-04-29|url-status=dead}}</ref> while the Turkish government has maintained that the trucks were bound for the [[Bayırbucak]] Turkmens, who are opposed to the Syrian government.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tisdall|first1=Simon|title=Turkey caught between aiding Turkmen and economic dependence on Russia|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/24/turkey-caught-between-aiding-turkmen-and-economic-dependence-on-russia|access-date=10 May 2017|work=The Guardian|date=24 November 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623040914/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/24/turkey-caught-between-aiding-turkmen-and-economic-dependence-on-russia|archive-date=23 June 2017}}</ref> According to later academic study the arms were bound for the [[Free Syrian Army]] and rebel Syrian Turkmen.<ref name="Yavuz & Balcı">{{cite book |last1=Yavuz |first1=M. Hakan |last2=Balcı |first2=Bayram |title=Turkey's July 15th coup |date=2018 |publisher=University of Utah Press |isbn=978-1607816065 |page=66}}</ref>

In 2014, [[Sky News]] reported that the Turkish government had stamped passports of foreigners seeking to cross the border and join ISIL.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Turkeys-murky-role-in-Syria-444394|title=Turkey's murky role in Syria|publisher=The Jerusalem Post|date=2016-02-09|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170429231042/http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Turkeys-murky-role-in-Syria-444394|archive-date=2017-04-29|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, it was also reported by Sky News that ISIL members use fake passports in order to get to Syria and Turkish officials can not easily identify the authenticity of these documents.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rayner|first1=Tom|title=Foreign IS Recruits Using Fake Syrian Passports|url=http://news.sky.com/story/foreign-is-recruits-using-fake-syrian-passports-10370132|access-date=10 May 2017|work=Sky News|date=24 February 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812072047/http://news.sky.com/story/foreign-is-recruits-using-fake-syrian-passports-10370132|archive-date=12 August 2017}}</ref>

[[People's Protection Units|YPG]] commander [[Meysa Abdo]] in an op-ed written for [[NY Times]] on October 28 claimed there is evidence that Turkish forces have allowed the Islamic State’s men and equipment to move back and forth across the border.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/29/opinion/turkeys-obstruction-of-kobanis-battle-against-isis.html|title=Turkey's Obstruction of Kobani's Battle Against ISIS|first=Meysa|last=Abdo|author-link=Meysa Abdo|work=The New York Times|date=October 28, 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170429235203/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/29/opinion/turkeys-obstruction-of-kobanis-battle-against-isis.html?_r=0|archive-date=2017-04-29|url-status=dead}}</ref> On November 29, Nawaf Khalil, a spokesman for Syria’s Kurdish [[Democratic Union Party (Syria)|Democratic Union Party]] (PYD), reportedly said that ISIL started to attack them from all four sides for the first time.<ref>{{cite news|title=Isis launches attack on Kobani from inside Turkey for first time|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/29/isis-attack-kobani-inside-turkey-first-time|access-date=10 May 2017|work=The Guardian|date=29 November 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519113939/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/29/isis-attack-kobani-inside-turkey-first-time|archive-date=19 May 2017}}</ref> Turkey's hesitation to help [[YPG]] and [[Democratic Union Party (Syria)|PYD]] in the fight against ISIL was reportedly caused by their affiliation with the [[PKK]], which is designated as a terrorist organization by the UN, EU and many countries including US, but Turkey later gave support to the Kurdish [[Peshmerga]] from [[Iraqi Kurdistan|northern Iraq]] instead of the YPG, allowing 155 peshmerga to pass through Turkey with their arms who, President [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] told, would initially be about 2000 but PYD was reluctant to accept.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Chulov|first1=Martin|last2=Letsch|first2=Constanze|last3=Hawramy|first3=Fazel|title=Turkey to allow Kurdish peshmerga across its territory to fight in Kobani|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/20/turkey-allows-peshmerga-forces-to-travel-to-kobani|access-date=10 May 2017|work=The Guardian|date=20 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810205800/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/20/turkey-allows-peshmerga-forces-to-travel-to-kobani|archive-date=10 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Erdoğan: There is a 'superior' mind in PYD's Kobani plots|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2014/10/26/erdogan-there-is-a-superior-mind-in-pyds-kobani-plots|access-date=2 March 2019|work=Daily Sabah|date=26 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030090617/https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2014/10/26/erdogan-there-is-a-superior-mind-in-pyds-kobani-plots|archive-date=30 October 2014}}</ref> Ahmet Gerdi, a Peshmerga general, told the Turkish press that they appreciate Turkey's help in their fight against ISIL.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kurds thank Turkey's support in fight against ISIS militants in besieged Kobani|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2014/11/07/kurds-thank-turkeys-support-in-fight-against-isis-militants-in-besieged-kobani|access-date=10 May 2017|work=Daily Sabah|date=7 November 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814223537/https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2014/11/07/kurds-thank-turkeys-support-in-fight-against-isis-militants-in-besieged-kobani|archive-date=14 August 2017}}</ref>

Russian Prime Minister [[Dmitry Medvedev]] and President [[Vladimir Putin]] accused Turkish officials of helping the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] in the aftermath of [[2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown|shootdown of a Russian Sukhoi Su-24]] on 25 November. These accusations were rejected by Turkish President [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.yahoo.com/putin-says-no-apologies-turkey-over-downed-warplane-110545924.html |author1=Anna Smolchenko |author2=Fulya Ozerkan |title=Russia targets Turkish economy over downed plane |publisher=Yahoo News |date=26 November 2015 |access-date=2 April 2020 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305104829/http://news.yahoo.com/putin-says-no-apologies-turkey-over-downed-warplane-110545924.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In October 2015, the office of the Turkish Prime Minister had stated that while smuggling of oil between Turkey and Syria had taken place, the nation had been successful in effectively stopping it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/061e7a83299644868c920bed0667eb9c/despite-us-led-campaign-islamic-state-rakes-oil-earnings |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151024175126/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/061e7a83299644868c920bed0667eb9c/despite-us-led-campaign-islamic-state-rakes-oil-earnings |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 October 2015 |author1=Hamza Hendawi |author2=Qassim Abdul-Zahra |title=Despite US-led campaign, Islamic State rakes in oil earnings|date=23 October 2015 |access-date= 2 April 2020}}</ref> In December 2015, the [[Ministry of Defence (Russia)|Russian ministry of defence]] claimed it had evidence regarding the Turkish president and his relatives being involved in oil trade with Islamic State. It also published pictures purporting to show trucks carrying oil travelling from oil installations under ISIL control into Turkey. [[Mark Toner]], the deputy spokesperson for the [[United States Department of State]], rejected these claims stating there was no proof to back up the claims of Turkish government being involved in oil trade with ISIL who was selling oil in Turkey through middlemen. Russia also accused Turkey of allowing weapons trade with ISIL. White House Press Secretary [[Josh Earnest]] meanwhile stated they had intelligence that most of the terror group's oil was being sold to the Syrian government of [[Bashar al-Assad]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-russia-turkey/russia-says-it-has-proof-turkey-involved-in-islamic-state-oil-trade-idUSKBN0TL19S20151202 |author1=Maria Tsvetkova |author2=Lidia Kelly |title=Russia says it has proof Turkey involved in Islamic State oil trade |website=[[Reuters]] |date=2 December 2015 |access-date=2 April 2020 |archive-date=2 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402000913/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-russia-turkey/russia-says-it-has-proof-turkey-involved-in-islamic-state-oil-trade-idUSKBN0TL19S20151202 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Several analysts meanwhile, have also claimed Russia's accusations of Turkey's cooperation as baseless, while also stating that a small amount of oil might end up in Turkey with cooperation from some middlemen and corrupt officials but much of it is actually sold in Syria.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=John|first1=Tara|title=Is Turkey Really Benefiting From Oil Trade With ISIS?|url=https://time.com/4132346/turkey-isis-oil/|access-date=2 April 2020|magazine=Time|date=2 December 2015|archive-date=21 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170521125916/http://time.com/4132346/turkey-isis-oil/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Rusya'nın IŞİD petrolü iddiaları gerçekçi mi?|url=http://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler/2015/12/151203_rusya_isid_analistler|access-date=2 April 2020|work=BBC|date=4 December 2015|language=tr|archive-date=28 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328174338/http://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler/2015/12/151203_rusya_isid_analistler|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Does Turkey really get its oil from Islamic State?|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34973181|access-date=2 April 2020|work=BBC|date=1 December 2015|archive-date=1 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200601175909/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34973181|url-status=live}}</ref> American officials meanwhile stated that the smuggling of oil by ISIL into Turkey was low.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/oil-smuggling-turkey-insignificant-us-official-1088049296 |title=IS oil smuggling to Turkey insignificant: US official |publisher=Middle East Eye |date=5 December 2015 |access-date=2 April 2020 |archive-date=17 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160117060215/http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/oil-smuggling-turkey-insignificant-us-official-1088049296 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Adam Szubin]], the acting [[Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence]], also stated that most of the oil was being sold in areas under Syrian government's control, with only some going towards Turkey.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-usa-oil-idUSKBN0TT2O120151210 |author1=Guy Faulconbridge |author2=Jonathan Saul |title=Islamic State oil is going to Assad, some to Turkey, U.S. official says |website=[[Reuters]] |date=12 December 2015 |access-date=2 April 2020 |archive-date=28 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528020121/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-usa-oil-idUSKBN0TT2O120151210 |url-status=live }}</ref> Israel's Minister of Defence [[Moshe Ya'alon]] also accused Turkey of purchasing oil from the terror group in January 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35415956|title=Israeli defence minister accuses Turkey of buying IS oil|publisher=BBC|date=26 January 2016|access-date=2 April 2020|archive-date=29 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629002208/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35415956|url-status=live}}</ref> In December, [[WikiLeaks]] released 57,000 emails of Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources [[Berat Albayrak]] stolen by [[RedHack]], a hacktivist group. 32 of them included him directing business affairs of [[Powertrans]], which has been accused by Turkish media of transporting ISIL oil in past and whom Albayrak had denied having links with. ''The Independent'' however had stated in past that the reports of Powertrans smuggling ISIL oil had no concrete proof.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/12/07/latest-wikileaks-dump-sheds-light-erdogan-turkey-berat-albayrak-redhack-hackers-oil/|title=Latest Wikileaks Dump Sheds New Light on Erdogan's Power In Turkey|publisher=[[Foreign Policy]]|date=7 December 2016|access-date=2 April 2020|archive-date=3 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503230755/https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/12/07/latest-wikileaks-dump-sheds-light-erdogan-turkey-berat-albayrak-redhack-hackers-oil/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some Arab and Syrian media agencies claimed that the village of Az-Zanbaqi (الزنبقي) in [[Jisr al-Shughur]]'s countryside has become a base for a massive amount of [[Uyghurs|Uyghur]] [[Turkistan Islamic Party]] militants and their families in Syria, estimated at 3,500. They further accused the Turkish intelligence of being involved in transporting these Uyghurs via Turkey to Syria, with the aim of using them first in Syria to help [[Jabhat Al-Nusra]] and gain combat experience fighting against the Syrian Army before sending them back to [[Xinjiang]] to fight against [[China]] if they manage to survive.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://syrianow.sy/index.php?d=72&id=9967|title=Syria Now|access-date=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160124140128/http://syrianow.sy/index.php?d=72&id=9967|archive-date=2016-01-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Rise of Chinese Jihadis of Turikistan Islamic Party in Syria Raises Concerns at Beijing|url=http://www.siasat.com/news/rise-chinese-jihadis-turkistan-islamic-party-syria-raises-concerns-beijing-1175183/|access-date=10 May 2017|work=The Siasat Daily|date=25 April 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170524004558/http://www.siasat.com/news/rise-chinese-jihadis-turkistan-islamic-party-syria-raises-concerns-beijing-1175183/|archive-date=24 May 2017}}</ref>

In 2016, [[Jordan]]'s king accused Turkey of helping Islamist militias in [[Libya]] and [[Somalia]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Jordan's king accuses Turkey of sending terrorists to Europe|url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/jordans-king-accuses-turkey-sending-terrorists-europe|access-date=26 March 2016|work=middleeasteye.net|date=29 June 2019|archive-date=2 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202170954/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/jordans-king-accuses-turkey-sending-terrorists-europe|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2019, the [[Libyan National Army]] accused the Turkish authorities of supporting terrorist groups in [[Libya]] for many years. They added that the Turkish support has evolved from just logistic support to a direct interference using military aircraft to transport mercenaries, as well as ships carrying weapons, armored vehicles and ammunition to support terrorism in Libya.<ref>{{cite news|title=Libyan National Army: Turkey supports terrorists, directly interferes in Libya|url=http://www.egypttoday.com/Article/2/72230/Libyan-National-Army-Turkey-supports-terrorists-directly-interferes-in-Libya|access-date=29 June 2019|work=egypttoday|date=29 June 2019|archive-date=14 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714103116/http://www.egypttoday.com/Article/2/72230/Libyan-National-Army-Turkey-supports-terrorists-directly-interferes-in-Libya|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Ukraine ===
In 2024, [[Mali]] and [[Niger]] severed relations with [[Ukraine]] after declaring it a sponsor of terrorism, claiming it supported terrorist organizations in Ukraine's acknowledged involvement in an [[Battle of Tinzaouaten (2024)|act of aggression]] against Mali.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Niger breaks off diplomatic ties with Ukraine "with immediate effect"-Xinhua |url=https://english.news.cn/africa/20240807/1a76545c6b8b4214b3292cbb20a2b4a1/c.html |access-date=2024-08-07 |website=english.news.cn}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=7 August 2024 |title=Niger cuts ties with Ukraine over comments on Mali-Wagner attack |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/niger-cuts-ties-with-ukraine-over-comments-mali-wagner-attack-2024-08-06/ |access-date=7 August 2024 |website=reuters.com}}</ref>

=== United Arab Emirates ===
No official connection to state sponsored terrorism was found between the [[United Arab Emirates]] government to terrorists,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/283100.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919192650/https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/283100.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2018-09-19|title=Country Reports on Terrorism 2017|publisher=United States Department of State|date=September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmfaff/573/57307.htm|title=The United Arab Emirates and the 'war against terrorism'|publisher=United Kingdom Parliament|date=2 July 2006|access-date=7 February 2019|archive-date=9 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124444/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmfaff/573/57307.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> however the UAE has been listed as a place used by investors to raise funds to support militants in [[Afghanistan]] and [[Pakistan]].<ref name="Guardian-WikiLeaks" /> Taliban and their militant partners the [[Haqqani network]] has been reported to raise funds through [[United Arab Emirates|UAE]]-based businesses.<ref name="US_embassy" />

The United States [[Library of Congress]] Research Division in its 2007 report reported the UAE to be a major transit point for terrorists, stating that more than half of the 9/11 hijackers directly flew out of [[Dubai International Airport]] to the United States. The report also indicated that UAE based banks were utilized by the hijackers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/uae-financial-and-transit-hub-of-911-terror_us_59b9d4a2e4b06b71800c36a5|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171111032601/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/uae-financial-and-transit-hub-of-911-terror_us_59b9d4a2e4b06b71800c36a5|url-status=dead|title=HuffPost is now a part of Verizon Media|website=[[HuffPost]]|archive-date=November 11, 2017}}</ref>

The United Arab Emirates has been fighting alongside General [[Khalifa Haftar]]’s army in the Libya war. As mentioned in a December, 2019 [[International Peace Institute]] report, the army led by Haftar comprises militias.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://reliefweb.int/report/libya/situation-libya-can-and-may-get-much-worse|title=The Situation in Libya Can, And May, Get Much Worse|access-date=10 December 2019|website=Relief Web|date=10 December 2019|archive-date=10 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210215743/https://reliefweb.int/report/libya/situation-libya-can-and-may-get-much-worse|url-status=live}}</ref> Meanwhile, according to another report, UAE has been accused by the United Nations of breaching its 1970 arms embargo imposed on Libya, in a 376-page report. Weapons obtained by the Haftar army, were [[Pantsir missile system|Pantsir S-1]] surface-to-air missile system, which is “a configuration only the United Arab Emirates uses”.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/libya-civil-war-un-report-proxy-turkey-uae-a9242636.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/libya-civil-war-un-report-proxy-turkey-uae-a9242636.html |archive-date=2022-05-24 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Western allies 'blatantly' flouting arms embargo on Libya, UN says|access-date=11 December 2019|website=The Independent}}</ref> In the airstrikes led by the United Arab Emirates, more than 100 civilians have been reportedly killed and injured, while 100,000 have been reported to be displaced.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/10/libya-civilians-caught-in-the-crossfire-as-militias-battle-for-tripoli/|title=Libya: Civilians caught in the crossfire as militias battle for Tripoli|access-date=22 October 2019|website=Amnesty International|date=22 October 2019|archive-date=22 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022193931/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/10/libya-civilians-caught-in-the-crossfire-as-militias-battle-for-tripoli/|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 30 April 2020, [[Financial Action Task Force]] said that the [[UAE]]’s actions to combat terrorist financing and [[money laundering]] were not enough. The watchdog acclaimed that it will now put region’s financial centre [[Dubai]] under a year-long observation and monitor 10 of 11 missing pointers required to improve laundering along with the financing of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-emirates-financing/uae-doing-too-little-to-stem-money-laundering-and-terrorist-finance-watchdog-idUSKBN22B3CF|title=UAE doing too little to stem money laundering and terrorist finance: watchdog|access-date=29 April 2020|website=Reuters|date=29 April 2020|archive-date=30 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200430045018/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-emirates-financing/uae-doing-too-little-to-stem-money-laundering-and-terrorist-finance-watchdog-idUSKBN22B3CF|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Office of Foreign Assets Control|OFAC]] sanctioned 16 entities and individuals, in businesses spreading across the Horn of Africa, the UAE and Cyprus. This business network was alleged of raising and laundering millions of dollars for [[Al-Shabaab (militant group)|Al-Shabaab]]. The US Treasury Department stated that al-Shabaab’s key financial facilitator is Dubai-based Haleel Commodities L.L.C., along with its subsidiaries and branches in Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, and Cyprus. The influential businesspersons serving al-Shabaab’s  financial facilitators included, UAE-based Qemat Al Najah General Trading and Mohamed Artan Robel; Kenya-based Faysal Yusuf Dini and Mohamed Jumale Ali Awale; Finland-based Somali citizen Hassan Abdirahman Mahamed; and Somalia-based Abdikarin Farah Mohamed and Farhan Hussein Hayder.<ref>{{cite news|title=Treasury Designates Transnational al-Shabaab Money Laundering Network |date=11 March 2024 |url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2168 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240313214052/https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2168 |archive-date=13 March 2024 |access-date=18 March 2024}}</ref>

===United Kingdom===
The [[United Kingdom]] supported [[Ulster loyalism|Ulster loyalist]] [[Ulster loyalism#Paramilitary and vigilante groups|paramilitaries]] during [[The Troubles]] in [[Northern Ireland]].<ref name="Stevens">{{cite web |author=Martin Melaugh |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/collusion/stevens3/stevens3summary.htm |title=Text of Sir John Steven's Inquiry into collusion between the UK and Loyalist Terrorists |publisher=Cain.ulst.ac.uk |access-date=2010-06-21 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514145844/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/collusion/stevens3/stevens3summary.htm |archive-date=2011-05-14 }}</ref> During the 1970s, a group of loyalists known as the "[[Glenanne gang]]" carried out numerous shootings and bombings against [[Irish Catholic]]s and [[Irish nationalism|Irish nationalists]] in an area of Northern Ireland known as the "murder triangle".<ref>[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/collusion/docs/cassel061106.pdf ''Report of the independent international panel on alleged collusion in sectarian killings in Northern Ireland''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220050645/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/collusion/docs/cassel061106.pdf |date=2015-02-20 }} (''The Cassel Report''). October 2006.</ref> It also carried out some cross-border attacks in the [[Republic of Ireland]]. The group included members of the [[Ulster Volunteer Force]] (UVF) paramilitary group as well as [[Ulster Defence Regiment]] (UDR) soldiers and [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] (RUC) police officers.<ref>The Cassel Report (2006), pp. 8, 14, 21, 25, 51, 56, 58–65.</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=2011-04-26|title=Collusion in the South Armagh / Mid Ulster Area in the mid-1970's|url=http://www.patfinucanecentre.org/sarmagh/sarmagh.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426121606/http://www.patfinucanecentre.org/sarmagh/sarmagh.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-04-26|access-date=2021-05-07}}</ref> It was allegedly commanded by the [[Intelligence Corps (United Kingdom)|Intelligence Corps]] and [[RUC Special Branch]].<ref name=":2" /><ref>The Cassel Report (2006), pp. 6, 13</ref> Evidence suggests that the group was responsible for the deaths of about 120 civilians.<ref>{{Cite web|title='Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland'|url=http://patfinucanecentre.org/collusion/PFC%20Conclusions%20-%20Lethal%20Allies%20%28Oct%2023%29.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222181333/http://patfinucanecentre.org/collusion/PFC%20Conclusions%20-%20Lethal%20Allies%20%28Oct%2023%29.pdf|archive-date=2014-02-22|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-07}}</ref> The ''Cassel Report'' investigated 76 killings attributed to the group and found evidence that UDR soldiers and RUC policemen were involved in 74 of those.<ref name=cassel4>[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/collusion/docs/cassel061106.pdf The Cassel Report (2006)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220050645/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/collusion/docs/cassel061106.pdf |date=2015-02-20 }}, p. 4</ref> One former member, RUC officer [[John Weir (loyalist)|John Weir]], claimed his superiors knew of the group's activities but allowed it to continue.<ref>[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/collusion/docs/cassel061106.pdf The Cassel Report (2006)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220050645/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/collusion/docs/cassel061106.pdf |date=2015-02-20 }}, p.63</ref><ref name="Village">{{cite news|first=Frank|last=Connolly|title=I'm lucky to be above the ground|url=http://www.village.ie/Ireland/Feature/%27I%27m_lucky_to_be_above_the_ground%27/|work=Village: Ireland's Current Affairs Weekly|date=November 16, 2006|access-date=2006-11-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071120061944/http://www.village.ie/Ireland/Feature/'I'm_lucky_to_be_above_the_ground'/|archive-date=November 20, 2007}}</ref> Attacks attributed to the group include the [[Dublin and Monaghan bombings]] (which killed 34 civilians), the [[Miami Showband killings]] and the [[Reavey and O'Dowd killings]].<ref name=":2" /><ref>[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/collusion/docs/cassel061106.pdf The Cassel Report (2006)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220050645/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/collusion/docs/cassel061106.pdf |date=2015-02-20 }}, p. 8</ref> The UK has also been accused of providing intelligence material, training, firearms, explosives and lists of people that members of the security forces wanted to have killed to Loyalist paramilitaries.<ref>{{cite news|title=Stevens Inquiry: At a Glance|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/2956337.stm|publisher=BBC News Online|date=2003-04-17|access-date=2006-11-25|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061206010331/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/2956337.stm|archive-date=2006-12-06}}</ref>

The [[Stevens Inquiries]] concluded that the [[Force Research Unit]] (FRU), a covert unit of the Intelligence Corps, helped loyalists to kill people, including civilians.<ref name="guardianscandal">[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/apr/17/northernireland.northernireland2 "Scandal of Ulster’s secret war"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301041522/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/apr/17/northernireland.northernireland2 |date=2017-03-01 }}. ''[[The Guardian]]''. 17 April 2003. Retrieved 27 September 2013.</ref><ref name="forcesaidedloyalists">[https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/2954773.stm "Security forces aided loyalist murders"] . BBC News. 17 April 2003. Retrieved 27 September 2013.</ref> FRU commanders say their plan was to make loyalist groups "more professional" by helping them target IRA activists and prevent them killing civilians.<ref name="stevenspeople">{{cite news|url = https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/2956161.stm|title = Stevens Inquiry: Key people|work = BBC News|date = 17 April 2003|access-date = 27 September 2013|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070914113505/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/2956161.stm|archive-date = 14 September 2007}}</ref> The Stevens Inquiries found evidence only two lives were saved and that FRU was involved with at least 30 loyalist killings and many other attacks – many of the victims uninvolved civilians.<ref name="guardianscandal" /> One of the most prominent killings was that of the Republican solicitor [[Pat Finucane]]. A FRU double-agent also helped ship weapons to loyalists from South Africa.<ref name="nelsonobituary">{{cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/apr/17/guardianobituaries.northernireland|title = Obituary: Brian Nelson|work = [[The Guardian]]|location = London|date = 17 April 2003|access-date = 27 September 2013|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131207200153/http://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/apr/17/guardianobituaries.northernireland|archive-date = 7 December 2013}}</ref> Stevens would later claim that members of the security forces attempted to obstruct his team's investigation.<ref name="forcesaidedloyalists" />

Starting in 1979, the UK worked alongside the US and Saudi Arabia to fund and arm the [[Soviet–Afghan War|Mujahedeen]] under [[Operation Cyclone]], which arguably contributed to the creation of the [[Taliban]] and [[Al-Qaeda]] (more information here on [[United Kingdom in the Soviet–Afghan War]]).<ref name=HOW-THE-CIA-CREATED-OSAMA-BIN-LADEN>{{cite news|title=How the CIA created Osama bin Laden|url=https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/24198|date=September 19, 2001|publisher=[[Green Left Weekly]]|access-date=September 21, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912101441/https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/24198|archive-date=September 12, 2015}}</ref><ref name="1986-1992-CIA-AND-BRITISH-RECRUIT-AND-TRAIN-MILITANTS-WORLDWIDE-TO-HELP-FIGHT-AFGHAN-WAR">{{cite web|title=1986–1992: CIA and British Recruit and Train Militants Worldwide to Help Fight Afghan War|url=http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a86operationcyclone|publisher=Cooperative Research History Commons|access-date=January 9, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810221655/http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a86operationcyclone|archive-date=August 10, 2011}}</ref>

The UK has also been accused by Iran of supporting Arab separatist terrorism in the southern city of [[Ahvaz]] in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|title=Iran accuses UK of bombing link|work=BBC News|date=2006-01-25|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4646864.stm|access-date=2006-11-25|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060526095121/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4646864.stm|archive-date=2006-05-26}}</ref>

===United States===
{{Main|United States and state-sponsored terrorism}}

==== Operation Mongoose ====
{{see also|Operation 40|Operation Mongoose}}
Starting in 1959, under the [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] administration, the US government had the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) recruit operatives in [[Cuba]] to carry out terrorism and sabotage, kill civilians, and cause economic damage.<ref name=Yaffe20/><ref name=DomYaf17>{{cite journal |last1=Domínguez López |first1=Ernesto |last2=Yaffe |first2=Helen |title=The deep, historical roots of Cuban anti-imperialism |journal=[[Third World Quarterly]] |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |location=Abingdon |date=2 November 2017 |volume=38 |issue=11 |pages=2517–2535 |quote=In international terms, Cuba’s Revolution dented the US sphere of influence, weakening the US position as a global power. These were the structural geopolitical motivations for opposing Cuba’s hard-won independence. The Bay of Pigs (Playa Giron) invasion and multiple military invasion plans, programmes of terrorism, sabotage and subversion were part of Washington’s reaction. |doi=10.1080/01436597.2017.1374171 |s2cid=149249232 |url=http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/84628/1/Yaffe_Deep%20historical-roots%20of%20Cuban_2017.pdf |access-date=22 February 2022 |archive-date=16 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316104149/http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/84628/1/Yaffe_Deep%20historical-roots%20of%20Cuban_2017.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Franklin16/> Following the failed invasion at the [[Bay of Pigs Invasion|Bay of Pigs]], the US massively [[Operation Mongoose|escalated its sponsorship of terrorism]] against [[Cuba]]. In late 1961, using the [[United States Armed Forces|military]] and the Central Intelligence Agency, the US government engaged in an extensive campaign of state-sponsored terrorism against civilian and military targets in Cuba. The terrorist attacks killed significant numbers of civilians. The US armed, trained, funded and directed the terrorists, most of whom were Cuban expatriates and members of [[Brigade 2506]]. Terrorist attacks were planned at the direction and with the participation of US government employees and launched from US territory.{{refn|name=uscuba|<ref name=Jorge00>{{cite journal |last1=Domínguez |first1=Jorge I. |title=The @#$%& Missile Crisis |journal=[[Diplomatic History (journal)|Diplomatic History]] |quote=On the afternoon of 16 October... Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy convened in his office a meeting on Operation Mongoose, the code name for a U.S. policy of sabotage and related covert operation aimed at Cuba... The Kennedy administration returned to its policy of sponsoring terrorism against Cuba as the confrontation with the Soviet Union lessened... Only once in these nearly thousand pages of documentation did a US official raise something that resembled a faint moral objection to US-government sponsored terrorism.|publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell|Blackwell Publishers]]/[[Oxford University Press]]|location=Boston/Oxford|date=April 2000 |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=305–316 |doi=10.1111/0145-2096.00214 |url=https://wcfia.harvard.edu/files/wcfia/files/jd_missile_crisis.pdf|via=[[Weatherhead Center for International Affairs]], [[Harvard University]]|accessdate=6 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200907103502/https://wcfia.harvard.edu/files/wcfia/files/jd_missile_crisis.pdf |archive-date=September 7, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Schou11>{{cite book |last1=Schoultz |first1=Lars |title=That infernal little Cuban republic : the United States and the Cuban Revolution |quote=What more could be done? How about a program of sabotage focused on blowing up "such targets as refineries, power plants, micro wave stations, radio and TV installations, strategic highway bridges and railroad facilities, military and naval installations and equipment, certain industrial plants and sugar refineries." The CIA proposed just that approach a month after the Bay of Pigs, and the State Department endorsed the proposal... In early November, six months after the Bay of Pigs, [[John F. Kennedy|{{abbr|JFK|John F. Kennedy}}]] authorized the CIA's "Program of Covert Action", now dubbed Operation Mongoose, and named [[Edward Lansdale|Lansdale]] its chief of operations. A few days later, President Kennedy told a Seattle audience, "We cannot, as a free nation, compete with our adversaries in tactics of terror, assassination, false promises, counterfeit mobs and crises." Perhaps – but the Mongoose decision indicated that he was willing to try. |date=2009 |publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]] |url=https://uncpress.org/book/9780807871898/that-infernal-little-cuban-republic/ |access-date=2 February 2020 |location=Chapel Hill |isbn=978-0807888605 |chapter=State Sponsored Terrorism |pages=170–211 |archive-date=15 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815081724/https://uncpress.org/book/9780807871898/that-infernal-little-cuban-republic/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=NSArchive19>{{cite report |editor1-last=Prados |editor1-first=John |editor2-last=Jimenez-Bacardi |editor2-first=Arturo |date=October 3, 2019 |title=Kennedy and Cuba: Operation Mongoose |work=[[National Security Archive]] |url=https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/cuba/2019-10-03/kennedy-cuba-operation-mongoose |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |publisher=[[The George Washington University]] |access-date=3 April 2020 |quote=The memorandum showed no concern for international law or the unspoken nature of these operations as terrorist attacks. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191102010542/https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/cuba/2019-10-03/kennedy-cuba-operation-mongoose |archive-date=November 2, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Yaffe20>{{cite book |last1=Yaffe |first1=Helen |title=We are Cuba! : how a revolutionary people have survived in a post-Soviet world |date=2020 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0300230031 |pages=67, 176–181 |url=https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300230031/we-are-cuba |quote=What have Cuba’s revolutionary people survived? For six decades, the Caribbean island has withstood manifold and unrelenting aggression from the world’s dominant economic and political power: overt and covert military actions; sabotage and terrorism by US authorities and allied exiles ...The CIA recruited operatives inside Cuba to carry out terrorism and sabotage, killing civilians and causing economic damage. |access-date=2022-01-30 |archive-date=2022-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130141717/https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300230031/we-are-cuba |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Franklin16>{{cite book |last1=Franklin |first1=Jane |title=Cuba and the U.S. empire : a chronological history |date=2016 |publisher=[[New York University Press]] |url=https://nyupress.org/9781583676059/cuba-and-the-u-s-empire/ |access-date=2 February 2020 |location=New York |isbn=978-1583676059 |pages=45–63, 388–392, ''[[List of Latin phrases (E)#et passim|et passim]]'' |archive-date=19 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019142815/https://nyupress.org/9781583676059/cuba-and-the-u-s-empire/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Erlich16>{{cite book |last1=Erlich |first1=Reese |title=Dateline Havana : the real story of U.S. policy and the future of Cuba |quote=Officially, the United States favored only peaceful means to pressure Cuba. In reality, US leaders also used violent, terrorist tactics... Operation Mongoose began in November 1961... US operatives attacked civilian targets, including sugar refineries, saw mills, and molasses storage tanks. Some 400 CIA officers worked on the project in Washington and Miami... Operation Mongoose and various other terrorist operations caused property damage and injured and killed Cubans. But they failed to achieve their goal of regime change. |date=2008 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |url=https://www.routledge.com/Dateline-Havana-The-Real-Story-of-Us-Policy-and-the-Future-of-Cuba-1st/Erlich-Kinzer/p/book/9780981576978 |access-date=2 February 2020 |location=Abingdon/New York |isbn=978-1317261605 |pages=26–29 |archive-date=20 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020185840/https://www.routledge.com/Dateline-Havana-The-Real-Story-of-Us-Policy-and-the-Future-of-Cuba-1st/Erlich-Kinzer/p/book/9780981576978 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=BrennerNSA>{{cite web |last1=Brenner |first1=Philip |title=Turning History on its Head |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/brenner.htm |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |quote=..in October 1962 the United States was waging a war against Cuba that involved several assassination attempts against the Cuban leader, terrorist acts against Cuban civilians, and sabotage of Cuban factories. |website=[[National Security Archive]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824225125/http://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/brenner.htm |archive-date=August 24, 2017 |url-status=live |date=2002 |publisher=[[The George Washington University]] |access-date=2 January 2020}}</ref>}} The terrorist attacks directed by the CIA continued through at least 1965,<ref name=Brenner90>{{cite journal |last1=Brenner |first1=Philip |title=Cuba and the Missile Crisis |journal=[[Journal of Latin American Studies]]|date=March 1990 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=22 |issue=1–2 |pages=115–142 |doi=10.1017/S0022216X00015133 |s2cid=145075193 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231965249 |quote=While Operation Mongoose was discontinued early in 1963, terrorist actions were reauthorized by the president. In October 1963, 13 major CIA actions against Cuba were approved for the next two months alone, including the sabotage of an electric power plant, a sugar mill and an oil refinery. Authorized CIA raids continued at least until 1965. |access-date=2 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200907122348/https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Philip_Brenner3/publication/231965249_Cuba_and_the_Missile_Crisis/links/55bbb84f08aed621de0dc269.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=7 September 2020}}</ref> and the CIA was ordered to intensify the campaign in 1969.<ref name=Garthoff11>{{cite book |last1=Garthoff |first1=Raymond |author-link=Raymond L. Garthoff |title=Reflections on the Cuban Missile Crisis |quote=One of [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]]'s first acts in office in 1969 was to direct the CIA to intensify covert operations against Cuba |date=2011 |page=144 |publisher=[[The Brookings Institution]] |url=https://www.brookings.edu/book/reflections-on-the-cuban-missile-crisis/ |access-date=2 February 2020 |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |isbn=9780815717393 |archive-date=8 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808063522/https://www.brookings.edu/book/reflections-on-the-cuban-missile-crisis/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Andrew Bacevich]], Professor of International Relations and History at Boston University, wrote of the campaign:<ref name=Bacevich10>{{cite book |last1=Bacevich |first1=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Bacevich |title=Washington rules : America's path to permanent war |quote=In its determination to destroy the Cuban Revolution, the Kennedy administration heedlessly embarked upon what was, in effect, a program of state-sponsored terrorism... the actions of the United States toward Cuba during the early 1960s bear comparison with Iranian and Syrian support for proxies engaging in terrorist activities against Israel |date=2010 |publisher=[[Henry Holt and Company]] |url=https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780805094220 |access-date=2 February 2020 |location=New York |isbn=9781429943260 |pages=77–80 |edition=First |archive-date=4 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104231326/https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780805094220 |url-status=live }}</ref> {{blockquote|In its determination to destroy the Cuban Revolution, the Kennedy administration heedlessly embarked upon what was, in effect, a program of state-sponsored terrorism... the actions of the United States toward Cuba during the early 1960s bear comparison with Iranian and Syrian support for proxies engaging in terrorist activities against Israel}}

The United States had trained militant Cuban exiles [[Luis Posada Carriles]] and [[Orlando Bosch]] as part of this state-sponsored terrorism campaign. They are widely understood to be responsible for the [[Cubana de Aviación Flight 455|Cubana 455 bombing]], the deadliest instance of airline terrorism in the western hemisphere prior to the [[September 11 attacks|attacks of September 2001]] in New York and Washington. The [[US Justice Department]] recorded Bosch as having participated in at least thirty terrorist attacks, and sought to deport him when he entered the US illegally. Bosch was released by the US Government without charges at the instruction of [[George H. W. Bush]], and Bosch was granted residency in the country.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/dec/02/usa.books |title=The Bush dynasty and the Cuban criminals |last=Campbell |first=Duncan |publisher=Guardian |access-date=2011-06-07 |location=London |date=2002-12-02 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826192105/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/dec/02/usa.books |archive-date=2013-08-26 }}</ref><ref name=BBC05>{{cite news |title=Cuba 'plane bomber' was CIA agent |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4535661.stm |access-date=7 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060222025803/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4535661.stm |archive-date=February 22, 2006 |url-status=live |work=BBC News|quote=The documents, released by George Washington University's National Security Archive, show that Mr Posada, now in his 70s, was on the CIA payroll from the 1960s until mid-1976.|publisher=[[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]] |date=11 May 2005}}</ref><ref name=NYTPosada05>{{cite news |last1=Weiner |first1=Tim |title=Cuban Exile Could Test U.S. Definition of Terrorist |date=May 9, 2005 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/09/us/cuban-exile-could-test-us-definition-of-terrorist.html |access-date=8 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715044307/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/09/us/cuban-exile-could-test-us-definition-of-terrorist.html |archive-date=July 15, 2015 |url-status=live |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref name=NSArchive06>{{cite report |editor1-last=Kornbluh |editor1-first=Peter |editor2-last=White |editor2-first=Yvette |date=October 5, 2006 |title=Bombing of Cuban Jetliner 30 Years Later |work=[[National Security Archive]] |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB202/index.htm |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |publisher=[[The George Washington University]] |access-date=3 April 2020 |quote=Among the documents posted is an annotated list of four volumes of still-secret records on Posada's career with the CIA, his acts of violence, and his suspected involvement in the bombing of Cubana flight 455 on October 6, 1976, which took the lives of all 73 people on board, many of them teenagers. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824225444/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB202/index.htm |archive-date=August 24, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Operation Cyclone ====
Starting in 1979, the US worked alongside the UK and Saudi Arabia to fund and arm the [[Soviet–Afghan War|Mujahedeen]] under [[Operation Cyclone]] as part of the [[Reagan Doctrine]], which arguably contributed to the creation of the [[Taliban]] and [[Al-Qaeda]].<ref name=HOW-THE-CIA-CREATED-OSAMA-BIN-LADEN/><ref name="1986-1992-CIA-AND-BRITISH-RECRUIT-AND-TRAIN-MILITANTS-WORLDWIDE-TO-HELP-FIGHT-AFGHAN-WAR"/> However, scholars such as [[Jason Burke]], [[Steve Coll]], [[Peter Bergen]], [[Christopher Andrew (historian)|Christopher Andrew]], and [[Vasily Mitrokhin]] have argued that [[Osama bin Laden]] was "outside of [[CIA]] eyesight" and that support from reliable sources are lacking for "the claim that the CIA funded bin Laden or any of the other Arab volunteers who came to support the mujahideen."<ref>Jason Burke, Al-Qaeda (Penguin, 2003), p. 59.</ref><ref>Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Mitrokhin Archive II: The KGB and the World (Penguin, 2006), p579n48.</ref><ref>Steve Coll, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden (Penguin, 2004), p. 87.</ref><ref>Peter Bergen, The Osama bin Laden I Know (Free Press, 2006), pp60-1.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/nov/01/afghanistan.terrorism|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818191143/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/nov/01/afghanistan.terrorism|url-status=dead|title=CIA agent alleged to have met Bin Laden in July|first=Anthony|last=Sampson|date=November 1, 2001|archive-date=August 18, 2016|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2001/10/31/Report-bin-Laden-treated-at-US-hospital/87801004541363/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180309182851/https://www.upi.com/Report-bin-Laden-treated-at-US-hospital/87801004541363/|url-status=dead|title=Report: bin Laden treated at US hospital|archive-date=March 9, 2018|website=UPI}}</ref>

==== Other US operations ====
The US has been accused of arming and training a political and fighting force of some [[Kurds]] in Syria, the [[People's Protection Units]] (YPG), which is a sister organization of Turkey's [[Kurdistan Workers Party]] (PKK).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2018/01/26/whats-next-for-turkey-the-us-and-the-ypg-after-the-afrin-operation/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319214515/https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2018/01/26/whats-next-for-turkey-the-us-and-the-ypg-after-the-afrin-operation/|url-status=dead|title=What's next for Turkey, the US, and the YPG after the Afrin operation?|first=Ranj|last=Alaaldin|date=January 26, 2018|archive-date=March 19, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/12/russia-turkey-syria-161228050019245.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320105446/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/12/russia-turkey-syria-161228050019245.html|url-status=dead|title=Russia, Turkey: US supporting Syria 'terrorist' groups|archive-date=March 20, 2018|website=www.aljazeera.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/05/begins-sending-weapons-kurdish-ypg-syria-170531042959705.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319234854/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/05/begins-sending-weapons-kurdish-ypg-syria-170531042959705.html|url-status=dead|title=US begins sending weapons to Kurdish YPG in Syria|archive-date=March 19, 2018|website=www.aljazeera.com}}</ref> The PKK is listed in the [[US Department of State]]'s Foreign Terrorist Organizations list,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm|title=Foreign Terrorist Organizations|website=U.S. Department of State}}</ref> and described as "a US-designated terrorist organization" in the CIA's World Factbook,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/turkey/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110073821/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/turkey|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 10, 2021|title=Middle East :: Turkey – The World Factbook |website=www.cia.gov|date=16 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/war-on-terror/2018/01/27/cia-officially-recognizes-pyd-as-terror-group-pkks-syrian-wing|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128051221/https://www.dailysabah.com/war-on-terror/2018/01/27/cia-officially-recognizes-pyd-as-terror-group-pkks-syrian-wing|url-status=dead|title=CIA officially recognizes PYD as terror group PKK's Syrian wing|archive-date=January 28, 2018|website=DailySabah}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/syria/|title=Middle East :: Syria – The World Factbook |website=www.cia.gov|date=15 February 2022}}</ref> but the YPG is not.

===Venezuela===
{{main|Venezuela and state-sponsored terrorism}}
In 2019, the [[National Assembly (Venezuela)|National Assembly of Venezuela]] designated the [[Colectivo (Venezuela)|colectivos]] (irregular, leftist Venezuelan community organizations that support [[Nicolás Maduro]], the Bolivarian government and the [[Great Patriotic Pole]]) as terrorist groups due to their "violence, paramilitary actions, intimidation, murders and other crimes", declaring their acts as state-sponsored terrorism.<ref>{{Cite press release|title=AN declaró como terroristas a los colectivos|trans-title= NA declares colectivos terrorists|url=http://www.asambleanacional.gob.ve/noticias/_an-declaro-como-terroristas|date= 2 April 2019|access-date= 9 April 2019|work=Prensa AN|publisher= [[National Assembly (Venezuela)|National Assembly of Venezuela]] |language= es| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404014738/http://www.asambleanacional.gob.ve/ | archive-date=April 4, 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Asymmetric warfare]]
* [[Death squad]]
* [[False flag]]
* [[State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)]]
* [[State terrorism]]
* [[Proxy criminal networks]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Further reading==
* George, Alexander. ''Western State Terrorism'', Polity Press. {{ISBN|0-7456-0931-7}}
* Kirchner, Magdalena. ''Why States Rebel. Understanding State Sponsorship of Terrorism''. Barbara Budrich, Opladen 2016. {{ISBN|978-3-8474-0641-9}}.
* Kreindler, James P. ''The Lockerbie Case and its Implications for State-Sponsored Terrorism'', in: Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, Vol. 1, No. 2 (2007)
* Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth & K. Lee Lerner, eds. Terrorism: Essential primary sources. Thomson Gale, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-4144-0621-3}} Library of Congress. Jefferson or Adams Bldg General or Area Studies Reading Rms LC Control Number: 2005024002.

{{Terrorism topics}}

[[Category:State-sponsored terrorism| ]]
[[Category:Terrorism committed by country| ]]