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Weekly Analyst Review

18 May 2022

Bottom Line Up Front

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Since the January 2022 call to action to anarchists by the Atlanta Forest Defenders, various vandalism attacks have taken place on major corporations perceived to be associated with a 300-acre project to build a police tactical training center. The training center, unaffectionately nicknamed "Cop City," will be built where an old Atlanta prison farm-turned-forest now sits. The attacks began on local engineering and construction companies directly involved on the project. 


Around mid-April, the reach of the call to action became apparent and the next group of corporations to be attacked were banks, namely Bank of America and Wells Fargo, for their purported financial backing of the development. The attacks on banks took place in Pennsylvania, Oregon and California. And most  recently, Atlas Technical Consultants out of Minneapolis, Minnesota was vandalized for being "active participants in the ill-fated attempt at the destruction of the Atlanta forest." 

Other Developments

TRAC Incident Report:

Eco-Fascist Circulate Video from Telegram 'Artist,'

"The Great Replacement" [United States & Europe]

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Image:  Banner from the video

Eco-fascists are capitalizing on the fatal mass-shooting in Buffalo, New York, first by declaring the shooter, Payton Gendron a 'saint,' and now by circulating a new video, "The Great Replacement." The Telegram channel that released the video serves more as a media outlet for everything racist and right-wing than merely a Telegram channel. It is also the same 'artist' that released two other highly disturbing videos, "Bloodlust" and "Conquered Lands." Beginning with the traditional introductory scene of two people watching as two skyscrapers crumble, this video is their first video devoted to 'The Great Replacement' theory first advocated by by Christchurch active shooter, Brenton Tarrant, that has since been adopted by eco-fascists worldwide.

TRAC Incident Report:

Islamic State Beheads Iraqi Government "Spy"

but Photos are Heavily Photoshopped, Kirkuk, Iraq

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Image: Purported 'Spy' Beheaded by Islamic State

While TRAC does not dispute the validity of the beheading of this purported Iraqi government spy, the 17 May released photoset of the beheading definitely reveals that the images were manipulated to first, obscure the location of the beheading and second, to enhance the gore and drive up the fear. In the photos, not only are the perpetrators obscured, but the entire background is, including what appears to be plain dirt on the ground around the victim. In April 2022, TRAC detected another slight of hand when Islamic State Sinai had used green screen technology to digitally alter a beheading video, also to obscure the location. The question remains: Why? What are they hiding?  The additional photoshopping on the newest released photos involved the saturation of reds to present a bright red blood flow and the enlarging of the detached head.

TRAC Incident Report:

Remotely Controlled Ball Bearing Bomb at Market Near New Memon Mosque in Kharadar Area of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan

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Image: Screenshot of video of market blast on 16 May2022

On the evening of 16 May 2022, a bomb rocked a bustling market selling plastic goods, textiles, and hardware in the Kharadar area of Karachi. At least one person was killed and another eleven injured, six of the eleven critically. The incident marks the third bombing in Karachi this month alone. The following day, authorities reported that the bomb was comprised of four kgs of locally made explosives packed with ball bearings and it was detonated with a remote control. The same bomb construction was used on 12 May in Sadar Bazaar neighborhood of Karachi, suggesting at the very least that the same bomb maker was used for both attacks. While militancy has long been on the rise in Pakistan, it is evident there has been a recent and significant escalation of violence from each of Pakistan’s terrorist threats: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Islamic State Khurasan (ISK-P), and Baloch separatist groups. These organizations have increased their activities, diversified their modus operandi, and expanded their areas of operation, resulting in larger-scale attacks in a variety of locations over 2022. Most notably, these groups have begun to target Pakistan’s major cities – Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi – in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab. Prior, these cities were rarely subjected to violence as security is always high. 

On Our Radar:

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Photos:

Fully Electric and Reinforced 1,744 Foot Long Smuggling Tunnel Found Between Tijuana, Mexico and Otay Mesa, San Diego County, California, United States

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Photos:

The Islamic State Khurasan (ISK) Flag was Raised over a Taliban Checkpoint in Darzab District, Jowzjan Province, Afghanistan

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TRAC Incident Report: Unofficial Islamic State East Asia (ISEA) 'East Asian Knights' Announce Merger With Unofficial IS Thailand Media Label 'Nibras News' 

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