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List of paramilitary organizations

(Redirected from List of paramilitary groups)

The following is a list of paramilitary organisations.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Emergency Response Team officers detain a role player aboard the survey research vessel R-V Strait Hunter, which was simulating a migrant vessel during exercise Frontier Sentinel 2012 in Sydney, Nova Scotia 120508-N-IL267-013

Governmental paramilitary units

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SWAT team training with M-16 style rifles

Africa

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Kenya

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Libya (Libyan House of Representatives)

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  • Avengers of Blood[1]

Mauritius

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Nigeria

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Agency

Sudan

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Americas

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Canada

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Costa Rica

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Main article: Public Force of Costa Rica

The Public Force of Costa Rica is responsible for law enforcement duties, acting as both a civilian police force and gendarmerie. In addition to ordinary policing, it is responsible for border patrol, counter-insurgency, riot control, tourism security, and coast guard duties.

Peru

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  • The Rondas campesinas are community-based groups in Peru, formed initially to combat cattle rustling and later in response to the Shining Path insurgency. They function primarily as local self-defense and law enforcement entities, especially in rural areas with limited government presence.

United States

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Venezuela

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Asia

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Bangladesh

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Name Active Since Type Comments Size Ref(s)
Bangladesh Ansar 12 February 1948 Gendarmerie Second largest paramilitary force in the world 6.2 million [2]
Border Guard Bangladesh Border surveillance and internal security personnel 70 thousand
Bangladesh Coast Guard 14 February 1995
Bangladesh National Cadet Corps 23 March 1979

China (People’s Republic of China)

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Main article: Paramilitary forces of China
Name Active Since Type Comments Size Ref(s)
People's Armed Police 19 June 1982 Gendarmerie 1.5 million [3]
Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps 1954 State-owned enterprise
Paramilitary organisation 		unknown, officially 2.6 million employees
Militia of China 1927 Militia for general national defense mobilization 8,000,000[4] [5]
Maritime Militia of China 1949-1950 Naval militia Unknown. Possibly no official members.

Taiwan (Republic of China)

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Name Active Since Type Comments Size Ref(s)
National Police Agency 5 July 1972 Law enforcement agency
Thunder Squad 1985 Localized Police tactical unit 200
Special Operations Group Elite Paramilitary Special Forces Police tactical unit

Hong Kong

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Name Active Since Type Comments Size Ref(s)
Civil Aid Service 1952 Emergency Response/Search and Rescue Civil Agency 112 full time; 3,634 adult members and 3,232 cadet members
Government Flying Service 1993 Paramilitary Law Enforcement related Air support services 335
Hong Kong Police Force Police force For subdivisions, see Structure of the Hong Kong Police Force. Disciplined officers: 33,210 (2023)[6]
Auxiliary officers: 4,501 (2021),[7] Unsworn: 4,735 (2023)[6]
Special Duties Unit 23 July 1974 Elite Paramilitary Special Forces Police tactical unit Over 120[8]
Counter Terrorism Response Unit July 2009 Anti-terrorism patrol-type Police tactical unit 141 (2011)[9]

India

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Name Active Since Type Comments Size Ref(s)
Assam Rifles 1835 Border Guarding and law enforcement force 63,747 [10]
CRPF 27 July 1937 A central police force whose job is to assist state government, police or other agencies at time of their needs 313,634 [11]
ITBP 1962 Border Guarding and Law enforcement force which operates on the Indo - Chinese borders 89,432 [12]
Sashastra Seema Bal 20 December 1963 Border guarding force of India deployed along its borders with Nepal and Bhutan
BSF 1 December 1965 Largest border guarding force anywhere in the world 292,000 [13]
CISF 10 March 1969 Guard Sensitive National Assets Protection and Security 1,90,000
NSG 16 October 1984 Counter-terrorism force this force recruits its personnel from the police, paramilitary and Army from all around the India with the maximum service tenure of five years.


Indonesia

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Name Active Since Type Comments Size Ref(s)
Detachment 88 30 June 2003 (2003-06-30) Police tactical unit 1,300[14]
Mobile Brigade Corps 14 November 1945 (1945-11-14) Police tactical unit 34,250 (2008)[15]
Pancasila Youth 28 October 1959 (1959-10-28) Irregular military
Semi-militarized wings of political parties 		Allegedly affiliated with the Indonesian political party Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra)[16] 3,000,000 (2012) [17][18][19]

Japan

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Name Active Since Type Comments Size Ref(s)
National Police Agency 1 July 1954 (1954-07-01) Law enforcement agency 7,995 (2020)[20]
Special Assault Team 1977 Elite Paramilitary Special Forces Police tactical unit Approx. 300

Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea/"North Korea")

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Name Active Since Type Comments Size Ref(s)
People's Border Guards Border surveillance and internal security personnel
Worker-Peasant Red Guards January 1959 Paramilitary militia 5 million

Korea (Republic of Korea/"South Korea")

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Name Active Since Type Comments Size Ref(s)
National Police Agency 1 August 1991 Law enforcement agency 126,227 (2020)[21]
Special Operations Unit Elite Paramilitary Special Forces Police tactical unit

Malaysia

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Nepal

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Name Active Since Type Comments Size Ref(s)
Armed Police Force 24 October 2001 Counter-insurgency Specialised Police Force 35,000 [22]

Pakistan

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Philippines

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Name Active Since Type Comments Size Ref(s)
Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit 25 July 1987 Auxiliary unit 60,000 (2007) [23]
Special Action Force

Sri Lanka

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Name Active Since Type Comments Size Ref(s)
Special Task Force 1983 Elite Paramilitary – Special Operations Forces

Thailand

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Name Active Since Type Comments Size Ref(s)
Border Patrol Police
Marine Paramilitary Task Force
Paramilitary Marine Regiment, Royal Thai Navy Also known as Thahan Phran Marines
Thahan Phran Also known as Thai Rangers
Village Scouts
Volunteer Defense Corps 10 February 1954 Security Forces Unknown [24]

Vietnam

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Europe

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Albania

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Estonia

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Finland

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France

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Georgia

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Italy

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Name Active Since Type Comments Size Ref(s)
Arma dei Carabinieri 13 July 1814 Gendarmerie 110.000 (2023)
Guardia di Finanza 1 October 1774 Gendarmerie 68.000 (2015)

Latvia

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Lithuania

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Netherlands

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Poland

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Portugal

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Russia

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Sweden

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Turkey

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Ukraine

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Middle East

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Iran

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Iraq

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Israel

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Syria

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Oceania

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Micronesia

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Australia

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Non-governmental paramilitary units

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Africa

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Somalia

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Sudan

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Americas

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Colombia

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See also Right-wing paramilitarism in Colombia.

Mexico

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United States

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Various unorganized non-governmental Militia organizations in the United States (that are not associated with the U.S. military, law enforcement agencies, nor state defense forces in any way). There are many others totaling at around 334 unorganized militia groups as of 2011[28]

Asia

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Cambodia

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Indonesia

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Malaysia

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Myanmar

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Philippines

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Sri Lanka

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Thailand

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Europe

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Kosovo

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Croatia

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  • Ustaše Militia acted as a para-military unit, an auxiliary part of the WW2 Croatian Nazi Puppet State's Armed Forces

Georgia

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Ireland

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  • Óglaigh na hÉireann (OnH) (2006–09): Small dissident Irish republican group, split from the Continuity IRA.
  • Óglaigh na hÉireann (OnH) (2009–): Dissident Irish republican group, split from the Real IRA due to differences in leadership and factionalism.

Poland

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  • Strzelec Riflemen's Association of Poland

Russia

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Turkey

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Ukraine

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United Kingdom

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There are a number of paramilitary organisations in the United Kingdom, most of them operate in and around Northern Ireland and are a continuation of the various paramilitary groups which operated in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. Apart from these, there are a small number of white supremacist paramilitary organisations which operate in the United Kingdom.

Middle East

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Iran

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Israel

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Lebanon

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Palestine

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  • Mujahideen Brigades of the Palestinians Mujahideen Movement

Multinational

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  • Nordic Strength[citation needed]
  • Sea Org: Scientology group with roots in naval tradition. Dress in uniforms, live communally in barracks, and are organized around naval ranks. Some dispute whether it is paramilitary.

See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ Kirkpatrick, David D. (20 February 2020). "Inside Hifter's Libya: A Police State With an Islamist Twist". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Awaqirs formed the Avengers of Blood in 2013 to seek revenge after a deadly clash with an Islamist-leaning militia. The Avengers became known as enforcers for Mr. Hifter, widely blamed for disappearances and killings. [...] The militia leader, Ezzedine el-Waqwaq, said he was busy with civilian matters.
  2. ^ "Ansar-VDP world's largest disciplined force". bssnews. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  3. ^ Shambaugh 2002, p. 170
  4. ^ Xu (徐), Ping (平) (19 October 2018). 民兵到底穿什么服装？这里面的讲究还真不少. 81.cn (in Chinese (China)). PLA Daily. Archived from the original on 15 October 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  5. ^ Shambaugh 2002, p. 170
  6. ^ a b "Organization Structure: Organization Chart of HKPF". Hong Kong Police Force. March 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  7. ^ "Police in Figures 2021". Hong Kong Police Force. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  8. ^ ""Flying Tigers" Roar for Consular Corps". Offbeat – the electronic newspaper of the Royal Hong Kong Police. No. 610 – 25 June to 15 July 1997. Hong Kong Police Force. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  9. ^ "Operations - Hong Kong Police Review 2011" (PDF). Hong Kong Police Force. p. 21. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Assam Rifles". Assam Rifles. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  11. ^ "History of CRPF".
  12. ^ "History of ITBP" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  13. ^ "History of BSF". Archived from the original on 20 August 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Indonesia beefs up anti-terror unit to tackle growing terror threat". The Straits Times. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  15. ^ International Business Publications USA, US-Indonesia Diplomatic and Political Relations Handbook, 2008
  16. ^ "Gerindra punya hubungan baik dengan Pemuda Pancasila". MERDEKA.com (in Indonesian). www.merdeka.com. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  17. ^ Inside Indonesia, ed. (1999). Inside Indonesia, Issues 57-68. Inside Indonesia, Indonesia Resources and Information Programme. p. 19.
  18. ^ Elizabeth Rechniewski, ed. (2018). Seeking Meaning, Seeking Justice in a Post-Cold War World. Brill. p. 138. ISBN 9789004361676.
  19. ^ Lyn Parker, Pam Nilan, ed. (2013). Adolescents in Contemporary Indonesia. Taylor & Francis. p. Content. ISBN 9781134072385.
  20. ^ 行政機関職員定員令（昭和44年5月16日政令第121号）（最終改正、令和2年3月30日政令第75号） - e-Gov法令検索
  21. ^ "경찰통계자료" (in Korean). Korean National Police Agency. 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  22. ^ "Introduction". apf.gov. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  23. ^ Reyes, Danilo. "Policies arming civilians a product of vigilantism". Archived from the original on 13 March 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2008.
  24. ^ "Volunteer Defense Corps Act, 1954" (PDF). Ratchakitcha (in Thai). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 November 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  25. ^ "В городах России возобновили набор в ЧВК Вагнера — как в новое подразделение Росгвардии". Meduza (in Russian). Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  26. ^ Kurmanaev, Anatoly; Kotrikadze, Ekaterina; Lobzina, Alina (13 November 2023). "Russia steps up efforts to lure Wagner veterans back to Ukraine war". The Japan Times. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  27. ^ "Kremlin's efforts to disband Wagner Group partially succeed – ISW". Ukrainska Pravda. 21 August 2023. Archived from the original on 23 August 2023.
  28. ^ "Antigovernment militia groups grew by more than one-third in last year". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  29. ^ Kachin conflict#First conflict (1961–1994)
  30. ^ "US embassy cables: Sri Lankan government accused of complicity in human rights abuses". The Guardian. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  31. ^ Borger, Julian (12 January 2018). "Russian-trained mercenaries back Bosnia's Serb separatists". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  32. ^ "Meet the Russian Orthodox Army, Ukrainian Separatists' Shock Troops". NBC News. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  33. ^ "Воинствующий Эдичка Лимонов и его нацболы приехали в ЛНР". OBOZREVATEL PLUS (in Russian). 21 December 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  34. ^ "In a first, U.S. slaps sanctions on Russian white supremacists". POLITICO. Associated Press. 6 April 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2021.

References

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