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A paramilitary is a military that is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. [1] The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term '"paramilitary" as far back as 1934. [2]
Though a paramilitary is, by definition, not a military, it is usually equivalent to a light infantry or special forces in terms of strength, firepower, and organizational structure. [3] Paramilitaries use "military" equipment [4] (such as long guns and armored personnel carriers; usually military surplus resources), skills (such as battlefield medicine and bomb disposal), and tactics (such as urban warfare and close-quarters combat) that are compatible with their purpose, often combining them with skills from other relevant fields such as law enforcement, coast guard, or search and rescue. A paramilitary may fall under the command of a military, train alongside them, or have permission to use their resources, despite not actually being part of them. [4]
Under the law of war, a state may incorporate a paramilitary organization or armed agency (such as a law enforcement agency or a private volunteer militia) into its combatant armed forces. The other parties to a conflict have to be notified thereof. [5] Some countries' constitutions prohibit paramilitary organizations outside government use.
Depending on the definition adopted, "paramilitaries" may include:
A militia is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional and/or part-time soldiers; citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of regular, full-time military personnel; or, historically, to members of a warrior-nobility class. When acting independently militias are generally unable to hold ground against regular forces; militias commonly support regular troops by skirmishing, holding fortifications, or conducting irregular warfare, instead of undertaking offensive campaigns by themselves. Local civilian laws often limit militias to serve only in their home region, and to serve only for a limited time; this further reduces their use in long military campaigns. Militias may also, however, serve as a pool of available manpower for regular forces to draw from, particularly in emergencies.
The Panamanian Public Forces are the national security forces of Panama. Panama is the second country in Latin America to abolish its standing army, with Panama retaining a small paramilitary security force. This came as a result of a U.S. invasion that overthrew a military dictatorship which ruled Panama from 1968 to 1989. The final military dictator, Manuel Noriega, had been belligerent toward the U.S. culminating in the killing of a U.S. Marine lieutenant and U.S. invasion ordered by U.S. President George H. W. Bush.
The People's Armed Police Force is a Chinese paramilitary organization primarily responsible for internal security, riot control, counter-terrorism, disaster response, law enforcement and maritime rights protection as well as providing support to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) during wartime.
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear reconnaissance, logistic traffic management, counterinsurgency, and detainee handling.
A gendarmerie is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term gendarme is derived from the medieval French expression gens d'armes, which translates to "men-at-arms". In France and some Francophone nations, the gendarmerie is a branch of the armed forces that is responsible for internal security in parts of the territory, with additional duties as military police for the armed forces. It was introduced to several other Western European countries during the Napoleonic conquests. In the mid-twentieth century, a number of former French mandates and colonial possessions adopted a gendarmerie after independence. A similar concept exists in Eastern Europe in the form of Internal Troops, which are present in many countries of the former Soviet Union and its former allied countries.
A police tactical unit (PTU) is a specialized police unit trained and equipped to handle situations that are beyond the capabilities of ordinary law enforcement units because of the level of violence involved. A police tactical unit's tasks may include: executing dangerous search warrants and arrest warrants for dangerous persons; arresting or neutralizing dangerous or mentally ill armed persons; and intervening in high risk situations such as shootouts, standoffs, hostage-takings, and terrorist incidents.
The Basij, Niru-ye Moghāvemat-e Basij), full name Sâzmân-e Basij-e Mostaz'afin, is a paramilitary volunteer militia within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and one of its five branches. The force is named Basij; an individual member is called basiji in the Persian language. As of July 2019, Gholamreza Soleimani is the commander of the Basij.
A border guard of a country is a national security agency that performs border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard and rescue service duties.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Ground Forces, acronymed NEZSA, are the ground forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC Ground Forces are more geared towards internal disorder than the regular Iranian Army. However, in recent years, the IRGC Ground Forces and by extension the entire IRGC, have transitioned to becoming an expeditionary force, capable of projecting power abroad, through conventional military operations or via proxies and unconventional warfare. There are at least around 150,000 IRGC Ground Force troops.
Military organization (AE) or military organisation (BE) is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. Formal military organization tends to use hierarchical forms.
The Vietnam People's Armed Forces are the armed uniformed services and national security forces of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Being placed under the political leadership of the sole-ruling Communist Party of Vietnam and theoretically under the supreme command of the President of Vietnam, it consists of three components: the People's Army of Vietnam which is the military of Vietnam, Vietnam People's Public Security which is the law enforcement agency of Vietnam and Vietnam Militia and Self-Defence Force which is the militia of Vietnam.
A field force in British and Indian Army military parlance is a combined arms land force operating under actual or assumed combat circumstances, usually for the length of a specific military campaign. It is used by other nations, but can have a different meaning.
The Ministry of Interior of Bulgaria is the ministry charged with the national security and the upholding of law and order in the country.
Captive Society: The Basij Militia and Social Control in Iran is a book written by Saeid Golkar and published by Woodrow Wilson Center Press and Columbia University Press in June 2015. The book presents the first concentrated, in-depth analysis of the Basij, Iran's a prominent paramilitary organization that suppresses dissidents, votes as a bloc, and indoctrinates Iranian citizens.
The Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs is the sole organ of national security in Mongolia. The primary force is responsible for maintaining law and order and preventing crime throughout the country is the National Police Agency, created in 1965 and headquartered in the capital Ulaanbaatar. Interpol has an office within the Mongolian Police.
The Militia or Militia of China is the militia part of the armed forces of China, other two parts being the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the People's Armed Police (PAP). The Militia is under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and serves as an auxiliary and reserve force for the PLA. It is one of the largest militias in the world.
The Militia of SFR Yugoslavia was a law enforcement agency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1944 to 1992. The Militia was subordinated to the Federal Secretariat of Internal Affairs.
Designating, of, or relating to a force or unit whose function and organization are analogous or ancillary to those of a professional military force, but which is not regarded as having professional or legitimate status.
