Loyalist Volunteer Force
| Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) | |
|---|---|
Above: Emblem of the LVF Below: Flag used by the LVF. | |
| Leaders | Billy Wright; Mark Fulton; Robin King; Jim Fulton |
| Dates of operation | August 1996 – October 2005 (on ceasefire since May 1998) |
| Split from | Ulster Volunteer Force |
| Group(s) | Young Loyalist Volunteers (youth wing) Red Hand Defenders (cover name) |
| Headquarters | Portadown |
| Active regions | Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland (rarely) |
| Ideology | Ulster loyalism Protestant extremism Anti-Catholicism Irish Unionism |
| Size | Unknown |
| Allies | Red Hand Defenders dissident UDA members Combat 18 |
| Opponents | Irish republicans/nationalists Irish Catholics British Army Royal Ulster Constabulary later Police Service of Northern Ireland Ulster Volunteer Force |
| Battles and wars | The Troubles |
| Designated as a terrorist group by | United Kingdom United States |
The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) was an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and his unit split from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) after breaking its ceasefire. Most of its members came from the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade, which Wright had commanded.
In a two-year period from August 1996, the LVF waged a paramilitary campaign in opposition to Irish republicanism and the Northern Ireland peace process. During this time it killed at least 14 people in gun and bomb attacks, almost all of them Catholic civilians killed at random. The LVF called off its campaign in August 1998 and decommissioned some of its weapons, but in the early 2000s a loyalist feud led to several killings.
Since then, the LVF has been largely inactive, but its members are believed to have been involved in rioting and organized crime. In 2015, the security forces stated that the LVF "exists only as a criminal group" in Mid-Ulster and Antrim.
The LVF is designated a terrorist group by the United Kingdom and United States.