dirty war

noun

1. a war conducted by the military or secret police of a regime against revolutionary and terrorist insurgents and marked by the regime's use of kidnapping, torture, and murder, with members of the civilian population often the victims.

Example Sentences

But he says he never approved a "dirty war" against the rebels.

From BBC

“We would like to hit Moscow to end this dirty war. Children and civilians suffer, everyone does.”

From BBC

Not for those who suffered in the “dirty war” under the junta, but for those victims of leftist guerrillas before the putsch.

From Seattle Times

Scappaticci, who died last year, was the personification of the dirty war secretly fought between Britain's intelligence agencies and the IRA.

From BBC

To break the stalemate, the agreement says the amnesty law could be updated following the conclusion of a parliamentary investigation into what separatists call the "dirty war" waged by Madrid against them, including phone wiretaps.

From Reuters