The Tokyo chemical attacks of 1994–1995 were carried out by which type of group?

• A. Violent Religious Group
• B. Government Faction
• C. International Terrorist Organization
• D. Criminal Syndicate

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that the acts were committed by a religious group that used violence to pursue its beliefs. Aum Shinrikyo, a doomsday cult in Japan, carried out the Tokyo subway sarin attacks as part of its religious and apocalyptic goals. This makes them a violent religious group—nonstate actors whose motivation comes from a religious ideology, not a government seeking power or criminals seeking profit.

They weren’t a government faction acting on behalf of the state, so that label doesn’t fit. They also weren’t an international terrorist organization with a broad, transnational agenda, and their primary motive wasn’t organized crime for money or profit, even though the actions were criminal.