Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism

Drones dropping bombs is now a trend used by heavily armed criminal groups,” says Dr Carlos Solar from the Royal United Services Institute. The cartels are buying civilian drones from the open market and then adapting them to fight against competing gangs and law enforcement, he says. “They are forcing the state police and armies to integrate counter-drone attack strategies” at a time when the Brazilian government is tightened austerity measures."

Antifa is not what I would call an identifiable group or organisation [but] a movement, perhaps...On the basis of that lack of clear definition, I think it’s very challenging, if not counterproductive, to try and designate it,” she added. The security services, she said, would see “the least amount of value” in such a designation, as “usually what I’ve seen is that it is much easier to reach a verdict and a prosecution based upon focusing on the actual acts of violence...I think there’s probably a very justified sense of fear around how it could be used in a politically motivated way to target people that are seen as opponents to a more rightwing political government.”

Hate based discrimination will continue, unfortunately, to fuel attacks or attempted attacks, such as we saw today. As you say, there is a heightened awareness around synagogues and other places of worship already...But it certainly is connected also to a wider challenge of geopolitical insecurity. And geopolitical incidents are fuelling some of that hate based discrimination today."