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Japanese Red Army (JRA)
Japanese Red Army (JRA)
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FORMED
1969
STATED POLICY/AIMS/IDEOLOGY
foreign based, transnational, leftist terrorist organization of
Japanese radicals; Support the worldwide Marxist-Leninist
revolution by conducting acts of terrorism; Oppose the imperialist
Japanese government; Serve as a uniting force for leftist anarchist
organizations in Japan; Establish a Socialist People's Republic in
Japan.
HEADQUARTERS
Bekka'a Valley, Lebanon
AREAS OF OPERATIONS
Middle East in Bekka'a Valley, Damascus, Libya,
Pakistan/Afghanistan, Western Europe, France, Germany, Japan.
STRUCTURE
Currently divided into two main groups, the Middle East group (led
by Shigenobu), and the North Korean group (completely controlled
by North Korean intelligence).
SIZE OF GROUP
80-100 (30 in Bekka'a and Damascus, 15 in Libya, five in
Pakistan/Afghanistan-area, 30-50 in North Korea).
FUNDING SOURCES
receive or have received considerable training and/or funds from
Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, and former eastern-bloc countries;
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and other Palestinian
factions; support and fund-raising apparatus in Japan.
NETWORK CONTACTS
Hizbollah, Iranian intelligence, Libyan intelligence, North Korean
intelligence, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP),
Red Brigades (RB), Syrian intelligence.
SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES
1969
November - Japanese authorities storm a JRA safehouse and arrest
53 members who were planning a suicide attack on the prime
minister's residence. 1972
February - Japanese police searching for JRA training grounds in
the mountains north of Tokyo discover 14 dead bodies in the snow.
All are JRA members tortured or strangled by their comrades due to
an ideological or tactical conflict.
May - three members attack Lod Airport in Tel Aviv with grenades
and machine-guns, killing 26 and wounding 78 in a joint
JRA/PFLP operation.
1973
July - JRA member leads four PFLP guerrillas in hijacking a JAL
flight in Amsterdam, ordering the flight to Libya, where all
passengers and crew are released. The five then blow up the plane,
but one PFLP guerrilla is accidentally killed. 1974
August - Attack the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Tokyo, killing
eight and wounding 264. 1977
September - Five members hijack Japanese airliner in Bombay and
force it to land in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Japanese government agrees
to release six imprisoned criminals, 3 of whom were unconnected
to any radical cause, and pay $6 million in exchange for 159
hostages. Payment is made, six prisoners are released, and hijackers
are flown to Algeria. 1988
April - Responsible for bombing USO club in Naples, killing five
(one American).
TRENDS
Growing connections with Iranian/Hizbollah cadres is worrying.
Claimed to have disbanded, but individuals still appear to be active.
Apparently have formed, or are in the process of forming, cells in
Asian cities. Membership is not getting any younger: must recruit
several young members as quickly as possible.
Cadre in North Korea have set up the Japan-North Korea Travel
Organization for Japanese tourists in Pyongyang. This group works
with the Tokyo-based Choson (Korea) Travel Club.
Excerpted from Jeffrey A. Builta's Extremist Groups: A
Compilation of Terrorist Organizations, Violent Political Groups,
and Issue-Oriented Militant Movements, published by OICJ
Publications.
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