Except "fighting" means attacking your enemy. It doesn't mean targeting civilians. It's usually quite easy to tell terrorists from freedom fighters: Look at

Except "fighting" means attacking your enemy. It doesn't mean targeting civilians. It's usually quite easy to tell terrorists from freedom fighters: Look at their targets. Military/government targets--freedom fighters. Civilian targets--terrorists. Dual-use targets are considered military for this purpose. Mistakes and malfunctions don't count--what counts is what the person who picked the target believed to be in the area of effect. There are very few cases where this doesn't provide a clear answer. (Although occasionally politicians get it wrong--the USS Cole bombing was not terrorism.)