Low-intensity conflict

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A low-intensity conflict (LIC) is a military conflict, usually localised, between two or more state or non-state groups which is below the intensity of conventional war. It involves the state's use of military forces applied selectively and with restraint to enforce compliance with its policies or objectives.

Low-intensity operations consist of the deployment and use of soldiers in Military operations or situations other than war. For states, these operations are usually conducted against non-state actors and are given terms like counter-insurgency, anti-subversion, and peacekeeping.^[3] Violent non-state actors often conduct low-intensity operations against states, often in partisans or insurgencies.

The term can be used to describe conflicts where at least one or both of the opposing parties operate along such lines.