The Red Army Faction -- 10 Years After Its Dissolution

Twenty years ago, on April 20, 1998, members of West Germany's most active militant left-wing group -- the Red Army Fraction (RAF) -- declared that "the urban guerrilla in the shape of the RAF was now history."

Founded in 1970, the RAF was responsible for 34 deaths and continues to divide public opinion in Germany. On Sept. 5, 1977, the left-wing terrorist group kidnapped Hanns Martin Schleyer, the president of the Federation of German Industries, and killed four of his escorts.

The attack started events known as the German Autumn which culminated in a plane hijack, the prison suicides of three RAF leaders and Schleyer's murder.

The RAF had plans to abduct West German Chancellor Willy Brandt and fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld in the 1970s. Last year, German authorities reopened the investigation into the 1977 murder of federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback after a former RAF terrorist claimed he had new information about the killing.

Germans remain divided on the release last year of members of the RAF from prison after courts deemed them to no longer be a threat to society.

DW-WORLD.DE reviews some of the historic events and current debates surrounding the Red Army Faction. Click on the links below to find out more.