armed faction
Fighters with weapons
An armed faction is a group within a larger political body or conflict that possesses weapons and operates as a distinct force.
The term typically appears in coverage of civil wars, insurgencies, or fractured states: Several armed factions control different regions of the country.
Unlike a formal military, factions suggest division—competing groups with separate leadership and agendas.
- militiaNon-professional armed force
- rebelAuthority defier
- insurgentOne who revolts
- guerrillaIrregular armed fighter
- guerrilla warfareIrregular combat using ambushes
paramilitary · combatant · splinter · splinter group · cell · militant · uprising · resistance · warlord · power vacuum · separatist · revolutionary · cadre · fighters · weapons · territory · no-go zone · compound
armed factionpeace movement
Campaign advocating nonviolent resolution
civil rights movement · passive resistance · humanitarian organization · pacifists · conscientious objectors
armed factionconstitutional government
Regime bound by charter
sovereign state · standing army · police force · civil authority · democratic government
armed, faction, arm, arms, arming, armament, armaments, armature, disarm