Guerrilla warfare

Guerilla warfare is a set of strategic, operational, and tactical actions, within a political context, taken against an enemy in territory dominated by that enemy. Enemy forces are expected to be stronger than the guerrilla force, either because the area of operations is the enemy's home area, or an area that he occupies.

The term originated in the Peninsular War, from the Spanish word for war, guerrero; "guerrilla" is "little war".

Since the enemy is stronger, the guerilla force must fight only on terms favorable to the guerrilla; guerrilla warfare, although centuries old, is, in modern terms, asymmetrical warfare. In its ever-present political dimension, it is a form of insurgency.

"The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue." — Mao Zedong

Guerrillas frequently do not wear uniform and hide among sympathetic civilians, so they are may be in violation of lawful combatant status of the Third Geneva Convention. They claim military necessity for this approach, as they would be annihilated in conventional combat.

U.S. and NATO doctrine

The U.S. military doctrine for operating as a guerrilla is unconventional warfare (United States doctrine), while the doctrine for counterguerrilla operations is Foreign Internal Defense.