Region:
Western Europe

Status:
Cease-fire since 1994

Established:
1966

Leader:
Hugh Smyth (spokesman David Ervine)

Strength:
Unknown

History/Notes:
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a Loyalist paramilitary group, takes its name from the UVF of the first World War. The Ulster Volunteer Force was mobilised as a Protestant/Unionist militia in 1912 to oppose the Home Rule campaign for a separate Irish parliament. Many UVF members formed the 36th (Ulster) Division that fought with the British Army in the Great War. The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) is the political wing of the outlawed Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commandos and states that it has "an insight into UVF thinking". Although the PUP is referred to as a loyalist fringe party, it holds more moderate unionist views than any of the traditional unionist parties.  Apart from a few breaches, the ceasefire still holds today.

Stated Goal(s):
Exists "to protect the Loyalist community from attempts to persecute them by armed attack and political subversion."

Location:
Northern Ireland

Area of Operation:
Northern Ireland

Terrorist Acts:

• misc. bombings, assassinations, extortion and robberies
• before 1994 cease fire targets included Northern Irish Nationalist paramilitary groups

Other Links:

Irish Republican Army
Progressive Unionist Party
The Northern Ireland Conflict CAIN Web Service (Conflict Archive on the INternet)
Organisations That Were Prominent During 'the Troubles'