Mujahedeen (Noun)
Meaning
A military force of Muslim guerilla warriors engaged in a jihad; "some call the mujahidin international warriors but others just call them terrorists".
Classification
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects.
Examples
- The mujahedeen in Afghanistan were able to resist the Soviet occupation through a combination of guerrilla warfare and popular support.
- The CIA secretly funded the mujahedeen in their fight against the Soviet Union, but later came to regret this decision as some of these fighters turned to terrorism.
- The term mujahedeen is often used to describe the military forces of the Taliban in Afghanistan, although some analysts make a distinction between the two.
- In the 1980s, the mujahedeen in Afghanistan were seen as heroic freedom fighters by many in the West, but this perception changed after the 9/11 attacks.
- The mujahedeen in Chechnya have been fighting against Russian rule for decades, using tactics that range from ambushes to bombings.