Terrorism

"Efficient. Cheap. You can keep it up for years."

- Professor Evan Phillips

Terrorism is the systematic use of violence (terror) as a means of coercion for political purposes. The United Nations Space Command considers some Insurrectionist factions and Jul 'Mdama's Covenant faction to be terrorist organizations.

Known terrorist attacks

 * Sometime in the 22nd century, the Houses of Parliament was badly damaged in a domestic terrorist attack. The palace was partially restored by the late 25th century.
 * 2494 - Angered by the deadly shooting of merchants on a trading vessel, a merchant vessel allowed the to board them and then suddenly opened the bay doors, blasting the boarding party into space. They then swarmed into the Callisto and murdered the remainder of its crew. The UNSC later dispatched a battle group to capture the Callisto. This event, the Callisto Incident, effectively sparked the Insurrection.
 * 2511 - A suicide bomber affiliated with the Freedom and Liberation Party loaded a commercial nuclear explosive along with several tons of scrap Cadmium into a rental truck before detonating it in the promenade of the Haven arcology. The blast killed two million people and injured a further 8.3 million.
 * 2524
 * During Operation: TREBUCHET, Staff Sergeants Avery Johnson and Nolan Byrne were neutralizing Insurrectionist bomb-making facilities on Tribute when the detected a truck full of bombs. The teams immediately trailed them to a Jim Dandy's restaurant. There a female Insurrectionist was discovered. When they tried to apprehend her, she took a child hostage. In the chaos that followed, the bombs were detonated, killing the woman, three Marines, and 38 civilians.
 * The luxury liner National Holiday was attacked by two unmanned orbital taxis sent by a human Insurrectionist organization above the planet Reach. The liner was torn in half by the explosion and burned up upon entering Reach's atmosphere, resulting in the deaths of all 1,500 people on board.
 * 2526 - On March 23, Insurrectionists bombed a civilian spaceport in Troisi City. Initial casualty reports of 13 dead and 47 wounded rose to 26 fatalities and 64 severely injured by the next day.
 * 2535 - While Lieutenant Jacob Keyes and a platoon of ODSTs were enforcing the Cole Protocol onboard the cargo freighter Finnegan's Wake, Insurrectionists detonated several explosives hidden throughout the hangar and inside the cargo crates. The blast killed and wounded many ODSTs.
 * 2553 - Dissident Jiralhanae servants on Sanghelios detonated an explosive in the state of Ontom, killing several Sangheili. Their revolt was quickly quelled by the local city militia.
 * 2556 - On February 7, a Sangheili Zealot terrorist unleashed a new bioweapon in a Sedra City mall, killing himself in the process but exposing the city's inhabitants to a new element that randomly targeted human DNA.
 * 2557 - In December 2557, Gek 'Lhar carried out a terrorist attack on a city on Earth. He was subsequently detained and interrogated at Midnight Facility.

Thwarted attacks

 * 2526 - UNSC forces working with ONI agents prevented an Insurrectionist attack on New Harmony, Mars. They arrested Christina Rice and James McCann, who had disguised themselves as Army specialists and were attempting to steal Hyperion nuclear warheads.
 * 2553 - Having learned the existence of the, members of the New Colonial Alliance led by Ilsa Zane attempted a hostile takeover of the Infinity. Disguised as a construction crew, the Insurrectionists took the command crew hostage and killed crew members on S-Deck by venting them out in space. Their attack was repelled by Spartan forces onboard the ship.
 * 2554 - Rudolf Schein, a Spartan-IV defector loyal to the United Rebel Front, attempted to blow up a UNSC space station used to train the second-class of Spartan-IVs. Having access to the station's armory, Schein had covertly installed several explosives throughout the station. His treason was eventually realized and he was foiled by Commander Musa-096 and Jun-A266.
 * In late 2557 or early 2558, A Sangheili terrorist attempted to detonate a contraband HAVOK nuclear warhead in the city of Rio de Janeiro, but was ultimately stopped by UNSC special operations forces.
 * In 2558, nine members of Sapien Sunrise infiltrated famed ambassador Richard Sekibo's delegation at a peace summit on the colony world of Biko. They intended to assasinate Sekibo and the Sangheili delegation while framing the Sangheili of the crime. The assassination attempt was foiled by Spartan John-117 though Sekibo was mortally wounded. Unfortunately, the truth was covered up and John-117 was used as a scapegoat to hide the UEG's laxity towards preventing the attack, much to the frustration of the Sangheili delegation.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Contact Harvest
 * Halo: The Cole Protocol
 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole
 * Halo: Reach
 * Dr. Halsey's personal journal
 * Halo: The Thursday War
 * Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
 * Halo 4
 * Spartan Ops
 * Halo: Spartan Assault
 * Halo: Initiation
 * Halo: Mortal Dictata
 * Halo: Nightfall
 * Halo: New Blood
 * Halo: Saint's Testimony