The Baader-Meinhof Group was a violent communist association that acted in partnership with the PFLP. They emerged from the Federal Republic of Germany in the late 1960s. On April 2, 1968, Andreas Baader, the group's founder, and his girlfriend Gudrun Ensslin, bombed a Frankfurt department store. The well-known German journalist Ulrike Meinhof, helped Baader flee custody. Following the prison break, Meinhof and Baader enrolled in a terrorist training camp run by the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and became infamous.
Returning from the Islamic terrorist training camp, Baader, Meinhof, and Ensslin engaged in a violent spree of bombings, abductions, and firearm attacks. They professed a hazy mix of Marxism, Maoism, and Muslim beliefs as the terrorized West Germany.
On May 8, 1976, Ulrike Meinhof hung herself in prison. A year later, Baader and Ensslin also killed themselves in prison. However, Baader-Meinhof's followers operating under the name Red Army Faction and with the support of the PLO continued to terrorize Europeans from 1978 until 1998.
Aliases: Baader-Meinhof Gang, Red Army Faction (RAF), Rote Armee Fraktion
Allies: Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
Leaders: Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof, Gudrun Ensslin
