In the wake of their departure, the town and surrounding territory was left largely lawless.

As the years passed, he gained a reputation as a cattle rustler and executioner for rival groups in this largely lawless region.

Independent as well as colonial governments have found that when they try to apply the law in this largely lawless region, rebellion is a result.

Many political experts believe Kenya, which has porous borders with largely lawless Somalia, has twice been picked as a terrorist target at least partly because of its pro-Western ways.

Communities are either walled enclaves of privilege or largely lawless areas entirely lacking protection from corrupt civil authorities.

At its height, the community had thousands of residents, but it was a largely lawless town.

The rapacious central authority that he personified for nearly three decades has so disintegrated that vast stretches of the interior are without any government and the congested capital is largely lawless.

It is in a desolate and largely lawless area, populated by Pashtun tribes.

In the three years that followed, the territory became largely lawless, with many Chechens, Russians and foreign visitors kidnapped.

A spokesman for the Somali pirate militia in Hardhere claimed there were 27 pirates that had gone to sea to act as "coastguardsmen" for the largely lawless state.