Title: Section 4 Terrorist Intelligence Operations - Operations Security - INTELLIGENCE THREAT HANDBOOK<
Headings: Section 4
Terrorist Intelligence Operations

Operations Security
INTELLIGENCE THREAT HANDBOOK
Section 4
Terrorist Intelligence Operations
Terrorist group categories
Terrorist tactics
Terrorist objectives
Terrorist threats to the United States
Terrorist sponsors
Libya
Syria
Iran
Sudan
Iraq
Cuba
North Korea
Islamic fundamentalist groups
Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS)
Party of God (Hizballah)
Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)
Islamic Group (Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya)
Terrorism Trends
Conclusion

Content: State-supported groups generally operate independently but receive support from one or more governments. Such support may include weapons, training, money, intelligence, or safe havens. State- directed terrorist organizations act as agents of a government. Such groups receive intelligence, logistics, and operational support from the sponsoring government, frequently through diplomatic missions. State-directed terrorism is potentially a deniable and/or relatively inexpensive method of carrying out attacks against an enemy state or its interests. [ Note 3]
The greatest terrorist threat to the United States today comes from fundamentalist Islamic extremist groups. Some of these groups, such as the Party of God (Hizballah), the Palestinian group Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS), and the Algerian Armed Islamic Group fit the traditional terrorist mold. These groups have hierarchical structures and receive support from state sponsors. A new Islamic threat is on the rise as a result of the activities of ad hoc terrorist groups. These groups are even more dangerous in many ways than the traditional groups because they lack a well-established organizational identity, and they tend to decentralize and compartment their activities.