Analysis from Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre (JTIC), a product
by business information provider IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO), highlights
the call by Individualidades Tendiendo a lo Salvaje (Individuals Tending
Towards Savagery; ITS) for further action outside of its traditional
South American base.
According to JTIC, ITS, whose key ideology focusses around misanthropy,
nihilism and a dislike of humankind, presents a more indiscriminate
threat than that posed by existing eco-extremist and anarchist groups in
Europe and South America. A recent statement by ITS represented a more
global focus than previous releases, suggesting attempts to appeal to a
more worldwide audience.
“ITS differs significantly from the wider eco-extremist and anarchist
scene in that it attacks indiscriminately with no attempt to avoid
casualties,” said Christopher Hawkins, senior analyst at JTIC. “An
example of this has been randomly placed improvised explosive devices
(IED) that were detonated, or aimed to be detonated, with no warning
given. ITS has also been involved in a long-running rhetorical conflict
with the broader anarchist milieu internationally, accusing anarchist
groups of not taking sufficiently extreme actions.”
Latin America, Europe… and beyond?
Since its 2011 formation, the group has expanded beyond its country of
origin (Mexico) and other countries in Latin America to claim attacks –
ranging from low-level arson and IED attacks to assassinations – in
Greece, Spain and a single attack the UK in 2018.
“Although these attacks were unlikely to have been directed by any
central ITS command structure, they illustrated that through
multi-lingual propaganda releases encouraging attacks internationally,
the ITS name may be used by individuals or small groups inspired by the
group’s misanthropic outlook,” said Hawkins.
It has purported cells in six countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile,
Greece, Mexico and Spain.
No arrests recorded as security forces focus counter-militancy
efforts elsewhere
ITS has claimed that between 2016 and 2019 no members of the group had
been arrested and JTIC has not recorded any arrests of alleged ITS
members.
“This demonstrates that the operational security measures taken by ITS,
including its self-contained structure, have proven to be effective to
date, alongside the limited resources security services are able to
dedicate to combatting ITS and similar groups in the face of other
threats,” said Hawkins.
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About Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre
(JTIC) (www.ihsmarkit.com/jtic)
Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre (JTIC), an IHS Markit product,
uses open source data to build a global database of attacks by non-state
armed groups in addition to counter-terrorism operations and key
statements by state and non-state actors. The database enables users to
search by location, target, group (active and dormant), tactics and
casualty numbers in order to quickly obtain actionable intelligence
and/or data. The database includes over 350,000 events since 2009 and
tracks over 1,000 separate non-state armed groups worldwide.
JTIC insight and analysis serves a wide range of clients, including a
broad spectrum of the national security sector and an extensive list of
corporate clients, providing timely, relevant, and trusted information.
This is delivered in multiple formats to align with user workflows,
encompassing data, reports, news and daily insights, as well as in-depth
intelligence briefings.
IHS Markit is a registered trademark of IHS Markit Ltd. and/or its
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their respective owners © 2019 IHS Markit Ltd. All rights reserved.
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