Realistic guerrilla war exercises to be fought across rural NC counties, Army warns

A “realistic” guerrilla war will be fought across two dozen North Carolina counties this month, with young soldiers battling seasoned “freedom fighters,” according to the U.S. Army.

El Parece

Video purportedly of a drone bombing attack in Tepalcatepec, Michoacán.

Seattle police faked radio chatter about Proud Boys as CHOP formed in 2020, investigation finds

At a crucial moment during 2020’s racial justice protests, Seattle police exchanged a detailed series of fake radio transmissions about a nonexistent group of menacing right-wing extremists.

The radio chatter about members of the Proud Boys marching around downtown Seattle, some possibly carrying guns, and then heading to confront protesters on Capitol Hill was an improper “ruse,” or dishonest ploy, that exacerbated a volatile situation, according to findings released Wednesday by the city’s Office of Police Accountability.

Kazakhstan: Widespread violation of basic rights spurred unprecedented protests

On 2 January, protests erupted in the Mangystau Region in south-east Kazakhstan over gas price hikes, before spreading into several other major cities, including the biggest city, Almaty.

The protests gradually turned violent, with reports of protesters damaging police cars, among other offences, and storming the Almaty city administration’s office today. In response, police fired tear gas and stun grenades at the protesters. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in a televised address that he plans “to act as toughly as possible.”

The authorities introduced a state of emergency in the Mangystau Region, Almaty and some other cities on Tuesday and Wednesday. They have reportedly also restricted the internet and social media and warned all media against “violating” Kazakhstan’s unduly restrictive media law.

Inside Eskom sabotage: Delayed report reveals how insiders helped the power station criminals

It found that in some cases employees removed cameras, distribution boards, and a control timer to switch electrical equipment on and off, as well as committing other acts of vandalism. The report said Eskom employees colluded with suppliers who fixed the units, gave them inside information, and told them what prices to charge in an emergency.

“The biggest problem is people in the electrical maintenance department [EMD] who collude with contractors and suppliers. They break parts so they can work overtime, they then call on the suppliers they work with to supply the parts. It is a big scam where a lot of technical people make a lot of money together with suppliers, and the power station managers ignored our proposals from security,” he said.

Hybrid warfare is on the rise globally. Might South Africa’s Eskom be its latest victim?

Both incidents were investigated as possible attempts at sabotage. Shortly afterwards the chief executive officer of Eskom André de Ruyter issued a statement saying that there was evidence of sabotage at the Lethabo plant.

In our view these two incidents can be classified as hybrid threats — or more aptly, hybrid attacks. They highlight the continued hybrid threat to the South African power grid.