evidence: During the Troubles, paramilitary groups, or groups outside of legitimate armed forces, came to power, causing chaos and hysteria in communities and worsening sectarian division. These paramilitary groups used guerilla warfare tactics, like raiding, bombing, and ambushing, to incite fear and intimidate the police or political authorities. In Northern Ireland, paramilitary groups included, but were not limited to, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defense Association (UDA), which supported loyalist ideas, and the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which promoted republican ideology. Though the IRA had been around for years, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provos), a separate branch formed at the start of the Troubles, focused its work on the republican cause in the North.