Category Archives: Terrorism

26Giu/23

PMC Wagner and Allied Mercenaries, Aftermath of the March by – Federico Borgonovo & Giulia Porrino

Communication, Intelligence, Security, Terrorism, , , ,

During the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, PMC Wagner exploited online and offline support of some military groups, including:

  • Española, a parallel battalion of Russian ultras led by Alexander Shum and with a special training centre near San Petersburg.
  • Rusich, a reconnaissance, sabotage and assault group, directly attached to the PMC Wagner.
  • Serb members, active since the deployment in Syria. Those are linked with several ultras’ communities.
  • Níðhöggr (Nidhogg), a little unit near to the Scandinavian right-wing militia funded by an actual Wagner member.  

All these units were orbiting around the PMC Wagner as embedded support groups. Starting from their online propaganda we theorized a pro-Wagner alliance system (figure 1).

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29Mar/23

Terrorist plot in Greece reported to be thwarted: first comments on operational questions – by Maria Chr. Alvanou

Terrorism,

Greek law enforcement authorities have announced that they have dismantled a terror network planning to conduct attacks in Greece[1].  According to media reporting on the subject, 2 men of Pakistani origin have been arrested as part of a terror network whose head is also Pakistani organizing the criminal activities from Iran. Continue reading →

15Mar/23

Correlation Is Not Causation: Wagner e migranti come attori della guerra cognitiva – by Giulia Porrino

Communication, Intelligence, Migration, Terrorism, ,

Nella giornata di lunedì il Ministro della Difesa Guido Crosetto e il Ministro degli Affari Esteri Antonio Tajani hanno denunciato la presenza della PMC Wagner dietro l’aumento degli sbarchi sulle coste italiane, triplicati rispetto allo stesso periodo nel 2022. Secondo i Ministri si tratta di una strategia di guerra cognitiva che i mercenari russi stanno attuando per destabilizzare l’Europa. Non si è fatta attendere la risposta di Prigozhin (su Telegram), che ha negato di essere al corrente di quanto sta accadendo.

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18Feb/23

Pakistan sotto assedio di Tehrek-e-Taliban Pakistan: colpito il quartier generale della polizia a Karachi – G. Giacalone

Terrorism,

Venerdì sera una cellula di jihadisti del gruppo Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, i meglio noti “Talebani pakistani) ha lanciato un attacco suicida contro il quartier generale della polizia di Karachi, un complesso strettamente sorvegliato che ospita dozzine di edifici amministrativi e residenziali. Centinaia di agenti vivono infatti all’interno del compound con le loro famiglie. I suoni di spari ed esplosioni hanno scosso la città pakistana per diverse ore e soltanto in tarda nottata è arrivata la conferma da parte delle autorità locali della fine delle operazioni di “pulizia” che hanno coinvolto polizia, esercito ed anche forze paramilitari. Continue reading →

18Feb/23

Saif al-‘Adl nuovo leader di Al-Qaeda: prime considerazioni – by Sara Brzuszkiewicz

Terrorism, ,

Risale a due giorni fa la conferma da parte del Dipartimento di Stato statunitense di quanto asserito poco prima dalle Nazioni Unite: Saif al-‘Adl, situato in Iran, è l’attuale leader di Al-Qaeda. Il report dell’Onu spiega che l’idea dominante proveniente dalle intelligence dei Paesi membri è proprio che sia al-‘Adl, egiziano di 62 anni, il successore di Ayman al-Zawahiri. Continue reading →

13Feb/23

PMC Wagner Propaganda Ecosystem – by Giulia Porrino & Federico Borgonovo

Terrorism, , ,

The Wagner propaganda ecosystem is fragmented and made up of different actors that we have categorized. We identified a “top-down” propaganda architecture, composed of different materials disseminated by the leadership of the Wagner company, exploiting traditional media such as television, movies, events, and newspaper. Examples of this are the construction of the Wagner Center in St. Petersburg and movies produced by Aurum Production owned by Prigozhin.

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07Feb/23

Towards a more progressive approach to studying the Salafi-Jihadi movement – by Ali Fisher

Intelligence, Sociology, Technology, Terrorism, , , ,

The ongoing struggle against the Salafi-Jihadi movement will require reflection on multiple levels to achieve a genuinely progressive and evidence-based approach. This reflection will focus on developing an authentic understanding of:

  • Their core purpose – their theology expressed in hundreds of thousands of pages of text, along with days of audio and video content.
  • The strategic communication approaches which underpin their da’wa; the missionary work often referred to by Western research as recruitment or radicalization. Such understanding will include how Salafi-Jihadi groups exploit the internet for strategic communication.
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31Gen/23

Holocaust Remembrance Day attack in Jerusalem: Comments from a European security perspective – by Maria Alvanou

Communication, Surveillance, Terrorism, , ,

The phrase “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” has been used in the discussion for decades now regarding whether violence conducted by Palestinians against Israelis constitutes terrorism or not. Different geopolitical interests, ideological approaches, historical accounts, and even personal affiliations, in conjunction with the complexity of the Middle Eastern issue and the grievances people have been facing in this area, have led to different characterizations. Some have called them terrorism, others insurgency or resistance. And indeed, from an operational point of view, when attacks have been aiming at military targets, things can be blurred. However, there have been some true textbook cases of terrorism. Such a case has been the one of January 27th, 2023, that has led UN Spokesperson, António Guterres to state: “There is never any excuse for acts of terrorism.  They must be clearly condemned and rejected by all.”[1]  

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31Gen/23

Beyond Remembrance. Traces of anti-Semitism in the current communication spaces – by Giacomo Buoncompagni

Communication, Terrorism, ,

The examples of genocide or individual cases of hate crimes are rather recent episodes and mainly concern the re-emergence of attitudes of racism and xenophobia. Among the phenomena of hostility and aggression towards ‘others’, anti-Semitism is a particular phenomenon that has been growing in recent years throughout Europe. It is in fact an ancient hatred, the ‘longest’ in the history of mankind, expressed towards Jews as such (or as Jean-Paul Sartre already observed, often even in the absence of Jews), but which today takes on new faces and characters depending on the social, cultural, and political context in which we live. Especially in the period around 27 January each year, Remembrance Day, there are punctual acts of anti-Semitism, even in Italy.

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26Gen/23

Europe: knife attacks continue – by Sara Brzuszkiewicz

Terrorism, , ,

In one day – on January 25 – two knife attacks took place in Europe.

In Germany, a knife-wielding man – allegedly of Palestinian origin – has fatally stabbed two people and injured seven others on a train in northern Germany before being grabbed by passengers and arrested by police. The event occurred shortly before a regional train traveling from Kiel to Hamburg arrived at the Brokstedt station. While Germany has not mentioned the word terrorism yet, the case of Spain seems to be slightly clearer.

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