adjective
(of an unofficial force) organized similarly to a military force.
‘soldiers and police have been killed in conflicts with the drug cartels and their paramilitary allies’
- ‘And what sort of training does this paramilitary police force give such conscripts?’
- ‘Local police, paramilitary police and military units have now surrounded the building.’
- ‘The raids killed or captured paramilitary forces and captured a number of large arms and ammunition in caches.’
- ‘The Defense Forces include an army, a navy, an air force, and paramilitary forces that include the police.’
- ‘Over 1,700 people were kidnapped by armed opposition groups and paramilitary forces.’
nounparamilitaries
A member of a paramilitary organization.
‘The struggle in Chocó is but one stage on which the guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries are fighting their war.’
- ‘The right-wing paramilitaries also gain much of their revenue from the drug trade.’
- ‘British troops report civilians are telling them where the paramilitaries hide.’
- ‘According to witnesses the men were a mixed group of paramilitaries and Colombian soldiers from army units.’
- ‘Venezuela's peasants and indigenous communities are also facing terror from paramilitaries.’
guerrilla, underground fighter