 | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (July 2020)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
| Armata Corsa | |
|---|---|
| Leaders | François Santoni Jean-Michel Rossi |
| Foundation | 1999 |
| Dissolved | 2001 |
| Active regions | Corsica |
| Size | Approximately 30 |
Armata Corsa (literally "Corsican Army") was an underground separatist terrorist organization in Corsica, [1] founded in 1999 and disbanded around 2001.
Armata Corsa was founded in 1999. Its suspected leaders, François Santoni and Jean-Michel Rossi, allegedly resigned from another organization National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC) the previous year to form their own group. [2]
The organization claims that it acts against links between nationalistic and criminal organizations in Corsica. It denounces mafia-style activities of groups like FLNC and regards itself as the only one serving a pure nationalist cause. Its stated goals include destruction of Corsican organized crime and the nationalist groups involved with it; transfer of Corsican terrorists currently incarcerated in French prisons to Corsica; and Corsican independence.
The first acts of terrorism the group claimed responsibility for were five bomb attacks against Departmental Amenities Directorate (DDE) buildings in Ajaccio, Calvi, Corte, Porto-Vecchio and Sartène. Two days later police also found an unexploded bomb in Bastia. Two months later there was an explosion in Bonifacio that destroyed a hotel owned by Italians.
Corsica is the main area of AC activities although they have claimed responsibility for some explosions in mainland France as well. They target public infrastructure, banks, tourists, police and army buildings and targets they regards as symbols of French power over Corsica.
The assumed size of the organization was about 30 people.
In August 2000, Jean-Michel Rossi and his bodyguard were killed in the Corsican town of L'Île-Rousse; AC claimed that rival nationalists were responsible. They threatened to attack targets in continental France if the police would not swiftly produce results, but the threat has not been carried out. [3]
François Santoni has repeatedly denounced violence. In 2001, he was sentenced to four years in prison for extortion.
Corsican is a Romance language constituted by the continuum of the Italo-Dalmatian dialects spoken on the Mediterranean island of Corsica (France) and on the northern end of the island of Sardinia (Italy). Corsican is related to the Tuscan varieties from the Italian peninsula, and therefore also to the Florentine-based standard Italian.
PNC may refer to:
The National Liberation Front of Corsica is a militant group that advocates an independent state on the island of Corsica, separate from France. The organisation was primarily present in Corsica and less so on the French mainland. A Conculta Naziunalista was often considered to be the political wing of the organisation.
The Breton Revolutionary Army is an illegal armed organization that is part of the Breton nationalism movement in the Brittany region of France.
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the French mainland, west of the Italian Peninsula and immediately north of the Italian island of Sardinia, which is the land mass nearest to it. A single chain of mountains makes up two-thirds of the island. As of January 2023, it had a population of 351,255.
The Party of the Corsican Nation is a Corsican nationalist and autonomist political party on the French island of Corsica. It was founded in Corte in 2002 by members of three nationalist parties, Union of the Corsican People (UPC), A Scelta Nova and A Mossa Naziunale.
In November 1755, Pasquale Paoli proclaimed Corsica a sovereign nation, the Corsican Republic, independent from the Republic of Genoa. He created the Corsican Constitution, which was the first constitution written in Italian under Enlightenment principles, including female suffrage, later revoked by the French when they took over the island in 1769. The republic created an administration and justice system, and founded an army.
The gang de la Brise de Mer was one of the most powerful Corsican criminal organizations. Based in Northern Corsica, the gang controls various activities in Corsica, but also in the South of France, in Paris, in Italy, in Occidental African countries, and in Latin American countries.
Revolutionary tax is a major form of funding for violent non-state actors such as guerrilla and terrorist organizations. Those outside the organization may consider it to be a euphemism for "protection money." Proponents of such groups maintain however that there is no difference between the revolutionary taxes "extorted" by given groups and corporate taxes raised by governments.
Corsican nationalism is a nationalist movement in Corsica that advocates more autonomy for the island, if not outright independence from France.
The French conquest of Corsica was a successful expedition by French forces of the Kingdom of France under Comte de Vaux, against Corsican forces under Pasquale Paoli of the Corsican Republic. The expedition was launched in May 1768, in the aftermath of the Seven Years' War. A French expeditionary force was landed on the island of Corsica, then ruled by the Corsican Republic. Marching inland to overcome any Corsican opposition, the French force initially suffered an unexpected defeat at the Battle of Borgo. But a new commander, the Comte de Vaux, was appointed to lead the expedition, and decisively defeated the Corsican army at the Battle of Ponte Novu in 1769, effectively bringing an end to Corsican resistance.
Santoni is the surname of:
The Corsican conflict is an armed and political conflict on the island of Corsica which began in 1976 between the government of France and Corsican nationalist militant groups. Beginning in the 1970s, the Corsican conflict peaked in the 1980s before Corsican nationalist groups and the French government reached a truce in It is currently ongoing following the 2022 Corsica unrest.
On 22 July 1985, two bombs exploded in a terrorist attack in Copenhagen, Denmark. One of the bombs exploded near the Great Synagogue and a Jewish nursing home and kindergarten, and another at the offices of Northwest Orient Airlines. At least one more bomb, planned for the El Al airline offices, was discovered. One person was killed and 26 people were injured in the attacks. Sweden-based Palestinians Abu Talb and Marten Imandi were sentenced to life imprisonment in Sweden for the bombings, which were part of a series of attacks in 1985 and 1986, while two co-conspirators received lesser sentences of one and six years imprisonment.
The 2015 Corsican protests were a series of marches by several hundred Corsican nationalists that began on 25 December, in Ajaccio, capital of Corsica. During the initial demonstrations, a Muslim prayer hall was burned down and Qur'ans were set alight. Further protests were organised after the initial march despite a government ban on protests until 4 January 2016. The protesters claimed to be acting in revenge for an incident that occurred the day prior when firefighters and police were assaulted in the neighbourhood of Les Jardins de l'Empereur; however, outside observers labeled the ensuing riots as anti-Arab and anti-Muslim. The Corsican nationalist politicians have claimed their view does not legitimise xenophobia, blaming the protest on French nationalism instead. Scholarly opinions on this claim are divided.
Pè a Corsica was a Corsican nationalist political alliance in France, which was calling for more autonomy for Corsica. More specifically, it was a coalition of the two Corsican nationalist parties active on the island; that is, the moderately autonomist Femu a Corsica and the strongly committed separatist Corsica Libera. The party was led by the autonomist Gilles Simeoni. The alliance was renewed for the 2017 territorial election. However, the alliance was dissolved for the 2021 territorial election.
Around 2:30 am on Monday, 26 June 1978, the historic Palace of Versailles near Paris, France, was bombed by separatists belonging to the Breton Liberation Front (FLB). The powerful explosion occurred on the ground floor of the left wing of the palace and caused damage within an 80 meter radius. Many statues and priceless paintings were damaged, including an entire gallery and several pieces of Napoleonic art, and a wide hole was opened in the ceiling. The bomb caused millions of francs in damage. The Hall of Mirrors, opera house and chapel were undamaged. One night guard was wounded.
A double bomb attack took place in the city of Nice, France on 20 July 2003. Sixteen people were injured in the blasts against the regional directorates of customs and the treasury. The Corsican separatist National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC) claimed responsibility, and was one of the biggest bombs exploded by the group on the French mainland.