What is defined as organizations that target civilians or regular forces to gain legitimacy?

The correct answer identifies terrorist groups as organizations that specifically target civilians or regular forces to achieve their aims, primarily by instilling fear and creating social or political change. These groups often seek to gain legitimacy or advance their agendas through acts of violence that are designed to attract attention to their causes. By attacking civilians, they aim to provoke responses from governments or societies, which can further their goals by generating sympathy for their situation or creating a narrative that portrays them as oppressed.

Understanding the motivations and tactics of terrorist groups is crucial in recognizing the distinctions between them and other entities, such as insurgent groups, which may primarily engage with military or state forces, or regular military units that operate under the law of armed conflict with defined rules of engagement. Criminal organizations, on the other hand, typically pursue profit rather than ideological goals and do not focus on the legitimacy aspect related to political change.