Islamic Terrorism and Syrian Civil War

Terrorism is, in its broadest sense, the use of intentionally indiscriminate violence as a means to create terror or fear, in order to achieve a political, religious, or ideological aim. Fortna, Virginia Page (20 May 2015).] It is used in this regard primarily to refer to violence against civilians or non-combatants. Although the term has been in use since at least the 1970s, it initially became popular when journalists and politicians publicly introduced and started using the term "Islamic terrorists" following the September 11 attacks. Rather than being used to describe a type of activity, the term has often been used politically as a term of abuse or denunciation, both by insurgent groups and by governments against each other. There is no universally agreed upon definition of the term, and many definitions exist.