People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) is a South African terrorist organization that operates in and around Cape Town.  The group was formed in late 1995 to serve as a community-based, anti-crime organization.  Group members would patrol their neighborhoods to discourage drug dealers from operating in those areas.  The drug dealers enjoyed tacit support from corrupt police officers, as well as overt support from criminal gangs.  So by forming a community group to reduce the number of drug dealers, the organization was also indirectly taking on powerful criminal organizations.  PAGAD's efforts met with some success.  PAGAD enjoyed a certain degree of impunity from the South African government, which appreciated the group's fight against crime. Unfortunately, PAGAD was not satisfied with only defensive community protection.  <P><br /><br />PAGAD soon embarked on an aggressive terrorist campaign, detonating hundreds of bombs throughout Cape Town between 1996 and 2000.  In addition to its increased vigilantism, the group also integrated ideological objectives beyond its community-based fight against drug lords.  PAGAD's original objective was to help communities to help themselves.  The group's efforts were especially successful in many Muslim areas.  According to some observers, the Muslim areas possessed a sense of community and united stance against drugs that easily lent itself to PAGAD objectives.  PAGAD allied itself with the Islamic group Qibla.  PAGAD reportedly set up two front groups to carry out certain operations, Muslims Against Global Oppression (MAGO) and Muslims Against Illegitimate Leaders.  By this point, any tacit support of the South African government had long dissipated.  PAGAD was clearly no longer a community, anti-crime group.  PAGAD had become a substantial terrorist entity that contributed to Cape Town's violent landscape. <P><br /><br />PAGAD had adopted a viewpoint far removed form its original philosophy.  The group now viewed the South African government as a threat to the values of Muslim communities.  PAGAD's violent actions grew to include bombings against "South African authorities, moderate Muslims, synagogues, gay nightclubs, tourist attractions, and Western-associated restaurants" (Patterns of Global Terrorism 2003).  PAGAD and its allies adopted an anti-Western philosophy that is reflected in its bombing targets.