Armata Corsa (literally "Corsican Army") was an underground separatist

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

organization in Corsica, founded in 1999 and disbanded around 2001.

History

Armata Corsa was founded in 1999. Its suspected leaders, François Santoni and Jean-Michel Rossi, allegedly resigned from another organization

National Liberation Front of Corsica The National Liberation Front of Corsica ( co, Fronte di liberazione naziunale di a Corsica or ; french: Front de libération nationale corse, abbreviated FLNC) was a militant group that advocates an independent state on the island of Corsica, se ...

(FLNC) the previous year to form their own group. The organization claims that it acts against links between

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

ic and criminal organizations in Corsica. It denounces

mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

-style activities of groups like FLNC and regards itself as the only one serving a pure nationalist cause. Its stated goals include destruction of Corsican

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

and the nationalist groups involved with it; transfer of Corsican terrorists currently incarcerated in French prisons to Corsica; and Corsican independence. The first acts of terrorism the group claimed responsibility for were five bomb attacks against Departmental Amenities Directorate (DDE) buildings in Ajaccio, Calvi, Corte,

Porto-Vecchio Porto-Vecchio (, ; it, Porto Vecchio or ; co, Portivechju or ) is a commune in the French department of Corse-du-Sud, on the island of Corsica. Porto-Vecchio is a medium-sized port city placed on a good harbor, the southernmost of the mars ...

and

Sartène Sartène (; co, Sartè ; it, Sartena or ) is a commune in the department of Corse-du-Sud on the island of Corsica, France. Its history dates back to medieval times and granite buildings from the early 16th century still line some of the ...

. Two days later police also found an unexploded bomb in

Bastia Bastia (, , , ; co, Bastìa ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest population of any commune on the is ...

. Two months later there was an explosion in Bonifacio that destroyed a hotel owned by Italians. Corsica is the main area of AC activities although they have claimed responsibility for some explosions in mainland France as well. They target public infrastructure,

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

and

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

buildings and targets they regards as symbols of French power over Corsica. The assumed size of the organization was about 30 people. In August 2000, Jean-Michel Rossi and his bodyguard were killed in the Corsican town of

L'Île-Rousse L'Île-Rousse (; co, Lìsula, , or , ; it, Isola Rossa, ; ) is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica. It was founded in 1758 by Pasquale Paoli to create a port that would not be in the hands of the Geno ...

; AC claimed that rival nationalists were responsible. They threatened to attack targets in continental France if the police would not swiftly produce results, but the threat has not been carried out. François Santoni has repeatedly denounced violence. In 2001, he was sentenced to four years in prison for extortion.

References

{{Corsican nationalism Corsican nationalism History of Corsica Terrorism in France