U.S. State Department Designated Terrorist Organizations

There are certain criteria that must be met in order for the United States government to designate any organization - foreign or domestic - as a terrorist organization. Once the information has been compiled and a file has been assembled on the organization in question, the U.S. State Department officially labels the organization a terrorist organization only after confirming that the group is truly a subversive and dangerous one.

The listing of the organizations that the State Department has designated as foreign-based terror groups includes 47 groups as of 2010 including the following:

• ANO, or Abu Nidal Organization
• Abu Sayyaf Group, aka ASG
• AAMS, or Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade
• Al-Shabaab
• AAI, otherwise known as al-Ansar Islam
• Asbat al-Ansar
• AUM, aka Aum Shinrikyo
• ETA, or Basque Fatherland and Liberty
• CPP/NPA, also known as Communist Party of the Philippines, or New People's Army
• CIRA, or Continuity Irish Republican Army
• Gama’a al-Islamiyya
• The Islamic Resistance Movement, or “HAMAS”
• HUJI-B, aka Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami/Bangladesh
• The HUM, or Harakat ul-Mujahidin
• Hizballah, which refers to itself as the “Party of God”
• IJU, or the Islamic Jihad Union
• IMU, or the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
• JEM, aka Jaish-e-Mohammed, which translates to “Army of Mohammed”
• Jemaah Islamiya Organization, or “JI”
• Kahane Chai
• KH, or Kata'ib Hizballah
• Kongra-Gel, otherwise known as the KGK
• Lashkar-e Tayyiba, or “Army of the Righteous”
• LJ, also known as Lashkar i Jhangvi
• LTTE, aka Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
• Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, or “LIFG”
• GICM, or the formally named “Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group”
• MEK, or the “Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization”
• National Liberation Army, more commonly known as the “ELN”
• PLF, or the Palestine Liberation Front
• PIJ, or the “Palestinian Islamic Jihad”
• The PFLP, aka “The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine”
• PFLP-GC, or Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command
• al-Qaida Iraq, or “AQI”
• al-Qa’ida (wholly), otherwise known as “AQ”
• AQAP, or “al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula”
• Formerly the GSPC, now known as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb
• RIRA, aka the “Real IRA (Irish Republican Army)
• FARC, or “Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia”
• 17N, otherwise known as “Revolutionary Organization 17 November”
• DHKP/C, which translates in full to “Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front”
• Revolutionary Struggle, aka “RS”
• Sendero Luminoso, or “SL”, which translates into “Shining Path”
• AUC, otherwise known as “United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia”
• HUJI, aka “Harakat-ul Jihad Islami”
• Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, or “the TTP”
• Jundallah

There are also a number of other organizations that may be on various watch lists with the Department of Homeland Security, but they either haven’t yet met the criteria to be labeled a terrorist organization, or they are kept as classified information to ensure national security.

So, now you know more about U.S. State Department designated terrorist organizations and you have a list of groups that have been designated as dangerous terrorist sects.