Black operation facts for kids

A black operation (or black op) is a very secret mission carried out by a government or its military. These missions are kept hidden. The people who do them will not admit they ever happened.

Black operations are different from just secret missions. The main difference is that black ops often use tricks or deception. This means they might hide who did the mission. Or, they might even try to make it look like someone else did it. This is called a "false flag" operation.

One type of black operation is a "black bag operation." This is when secret agents or soldiers quietly enter buildings. They go in to gather important intelligence (secret information). Groups like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the United States, Mossad in Israel, and MI6 in the United Kingdom have done these types of missions.

What "Black" Means

The word "black" is used for secret government actions. For example, some military and intelligence groups have "black budgets." These budgets are for paying for black operations. Almost all details about these special budgets are hidden from the public.

Examples of Black Operations

CIA's Secret Activities

In 2007, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) shared some old secret records. These records showed that the CIA had secretly watched people in the United States. This was against the law. The records also showed plans for secret missions. These included plans to remove leaders from power or secretly take people.

Operations in Iran

In May 2007, news reports from ABC News and The Daily Telegraph shared information. They said that then-United States President George W. Bush allowed the CIA to do "black operations" in Iran. These operations aimed to change the Iranian Government. They also tried to secretly damage Iran's nuclear program.

Related pages

• Covert operation

Images for kids

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  This US Douglas A-26 C Invader was painted to look like a Cuban plane. This was for the military invasion of Cuba in 1961.

See also

In Spanish: Operación encubierta para niños