Terrorism is the use of force by groups called terrorist cells or individuals called terrorists to obtain political or other demands. Such force is known to include criminal, violent, extremist, or military acts.
There is no universally accepted definition of terrorism. As noted by the Ansata, what is considered as terrorism in one society is considered freedom fighting in another, thus choosing to name themselves as rebels, insurgents or resistance fighters. Conversely, the terrorists (like the Bajorans, the Maquis or the Cardassian Rebellion) could consider their enemies as oppressors, occupiers, or conquerors.
One terrorist leader of the 1990s and 2000s was Osama Bin Laden. An image of him appeared to Captain Archer when the time stream was corrected. (ENT: "Storm Front, Part II")
In September 2001, a series of terrorist attacks were carried out on the United States of America on Earth. An image of the attack on New York City appeared to Archer after he had corrected the timeline that Vosk had corrupted. (ENT: "Storm Front, Part II")
This article only deals with the reference to World Trade Center attack from Star Trek: Enterprise as nothing more than an image of the burning towers was shown in canon. For more information on the September 2001 attacks, please see the September 11, 2001 attacks at Wikipedia.
In 2004, Loomis commented that he thought the Xindi-Reptilians that he was collecting blood "samples" for might be terrorists. (ENT: "Carpenter Street")
In 2024, Ireland was re-unified after a successful string of terrorist attacks influenced northern counties to merge into the rest of the independent Republic of Ireland. (TNG: "The High Ground")
This piece of future history was deliberately cut from the aired episode in the United Kingdom.[1]
During World War III, Colonel Phillip Green led a faction of ultra-violent eco-terrorists, which resulted in some 37 million deaths by the war's end in 2053. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" production art)
Information regarding the start date of World War Three and Phillip Green's role in the war comes from an historical archive graphic seen on a monitor aboard the USS Defiant in "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II".
In 2154, the Vulcan High Command considered the Syrrannite movement to be a terrorist organization. That group was implicated in the bombing of the United Earth Embassy on Vulcan, which had actually been planned by members of the High Command. (ENT: "The Forge", "Awakening", "Kir'Shara")
Prior to the Antwerp Conference, the last significant terrorist bombing on Earth took place some time prior to 2272. (DS9: "Homefront")
In 2286, the Klingon Ambassador called James T. Kirk a terrorist for killing a Klingon crew and for stealing their ship. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
The Ansata turned to terrorism in 2296 to obtain independence for their region on Rutia IV. (TNG: "The High Ground")
According to Aamin Marritza, while he was posing as Gul Darhe'el, the most effective terrorist weapon was the random violence. (DS9: "Duet")
After a bomb destroyed the school aboard Deep Space 9 in 2369, Commander Sisko told Vedek Winn that this was no misguided person who did this but someone who listened to Winn's voice. Winn disbelieved that Sisko was holding her responsible for this act of terrorism. (DS9: "In the Hands of the Prophets")
The Cardassians saw the attacks on them by the Bajorans during the Occupation to be terrorist actions, although the Bajorans considered those who carried out the attacks to be freedom fighters. Kira though, recognized that she had been a terrorist and told Thomas Riker so, explaining that he would never make a good terrorist, since he wanted to be a hero, and terrorists never get to be heroes. (DS9: "Defiant")
In 2357, Surmak Ren was convicted of terrorism by the Cardassian Regional Court and sentenced to a term in the Velos VII internment camp, for actions arising from the kidnapping of Gul Spumco. (DS9: "Babel")
In 2370, the Circle, headed by Bajoran Minister Jaro Essa attempted to take control of Deep Space 9. They were foiled by Li Nalas and Major Kira Nerys. (DS9: "The Siege")
Officially, the Federation viewed the Maquis as a terrorist group. Federation citizens who aided or joined the Maquis subsequently lost their Federation citizenship. (DS9: "For the Cause")
Despite this, Admiral Nechayev said in "The Maquis, Part II" that members of the Maquis were "still Federation citizens". This may represent a change in Federation policy over time.
In 2372, the Cardassian group the True Way began terrorist attacks on Federation and Bajoran targets. They planted and detonated a bomb aboard the USS Orinoco and attempted to assassinate First Minister Shakaar Edon. (DS9: "Our Man Bashir", "Crossfire")
In 2373, the Open Sky bombed the recreational facility in Laktivia on Akritiri. The bombing killed 47 off-duty patrollers. The USS Voyager was accused of supplying open sky with dilithium which was used to build the Trilithium explosive. Two of Voyager's officers, Lieutenant Tom Paris and Ensign Harry Kim were accused of the crime and were sent to the Akritirian maximum security detention facility.(VOY: "The Chute")
After Kira Nerys asked Weyoun to release Rom, the Vorta told her that the Dominion "takes a dim view of terrorism". (DS9: "Favor the Bold")
In 2401, covert forces attacked the Starfleet Recruitment building on M'talas Prime. Their target was a dedication was the Frontier Day's dedication ceremony to a statue of Captain Rachel Garrett.(PIC: "The Next Generation")
In that same year, terrorist cell was listed as one of the results in Raffaela Musiker's search for the "red lady". (PIC: "The Next Generation")
Terrorist organizations[]
- Alliance for Global Unity
- Ansata
- Bajoran Resistance
- Cardassian Liberation Front
- Logic extremist
- Maquis
- Open Sky
- Terra Prime
- True Way
- Vulcan Isolationist Movement