Informal Anarchist Federation

Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI) (in Italian: Federazione Anarchica Informale) is an insurrectionary anarchist organization.[1] It has been described by Italian intelligence sources as a "horizontal" structure of various anarchist groups, united in their beliefs in revolutionary armed action. Groups comprising the FAI act both as separate organizations and also under the FAI, and are known to format group campaigns. The group has its roots in Italy, but, since 2012, has begun organising and executing attacks in the United Kingdom.

Not to be confused with Federazione Anarchica Italiana or Italian Anarchist Federation.
Informal Anarchist Federation
Federazione Anarchica Informale
Founded2003
Years active2003–present
Territory Italy
United Kingdom
Argentina
Mexico
Greece
Chile
Czechoslovakia
ActivitiesBombings, Arson attacks, Shooting, Vandalism
AlliesConspiracy of Fire Nuclei
Rivals Government of Italy

Consistent with insurrectionary anarchism, the FAI is opposed to capitalism, nationalism, and Marxism.[2][3]

Structure

The organization is composed by the following groups:[4]

  • July 20 Brigade
  • International Solidarity
  • Cooperative of Hand-Made Fire & Related Items
  • May 22 Group
  • Iniciativa Anarco-Insurreccionalista de Ofensiva y Solidaridad–Julio Chavez López/Federación Anarquista Informal".[5][6]
  • Revenge Cell Mikhail Zhlobitsky[7][8]
  • Circle of Asymmetric Urban Warfare
  • Santiago Maldonado cell[9]

These groups represent factions of the FAI. Beyond the organization, each group has also forged its own set of alliances.[1]

In 2012 an official with the carabinieri ROS claimed that Italian intelligence had located the identities of at least fifty people belonging to the FAI, who are now in hiding.[10]

History

In 2003, the group claimed responsibility for a bomb campaign targeting several European Union institutions.[11][12] It had stated to target "the apparatus of control that is repressive and leading the democratic show that is the new European order". To address the situation, an order was issued to halt all packets addressed to EU bodies from post offices in the Emilia-Romagna region.[13] Sources at the prosecutor's office in Bologna said that the packages mailed to Trichet, Europol and Eurojust contained books and photocopies of a leaflet from the Informal Anarchist Federation.[12] The leaflet described the Italian group and talked about its "Operation Santa Claus." After the December attack on the Italian politician Romano Prodi, the FAI sent a letter to La Repubblica newspaper saying it was opposed to the European Union and claiming the attack was carried out "so the pig knows that the maneuvers have only begun to get close to him and others like him."[14]

In 2010, Italy’s postal service intercepted a threatening letter containing a bullet addressed to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.[15] A large envelope containing a letter addressed to Berlusconi with the threat “you will end up like a rat” was discovered on Friday in a post office in the Libate suburb of the northern city of Milan. On 9 April 2013 an explosive device was sent by the group to the offices of La Stampa.[16] It did not detonate.[16] On 23 December 2010, credit for exploding parcels delivered to the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome was claimed by the Informal Anarchist Federation,[17] though many news sources erroneously reported that another group, the Italian Anarchist Federation, claimed responsibility for the mail bombs.[18]

On 31 March 2011, a mail bomb exploded at the Olten headquarters of Swissnuclear, the Swiss nuclear industry association, wounding two people. According to prosecutors, a letter delivered with the bomb claimed responsibility on behalf of the IAF.[19]

A mail bomb, sent to Josef Ackermann, chief executive of Deutsche Bank, in Frankfurt am Main, was intercepted on 7 December 2011.[20]

In May 2012, a group believed to be loosely related to the FAI claimed responsibility for the shooting of Roberto Adinolfi, an Italian executive at a nuclear company.[21] The shooting (and continued threats against the Italian state tax collection agency) prompted the Italian Interior Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri to assign 18,000 police officers to security detail.[22] On 13 June 2012, the Italian ROS conducted raids on forty people, arresting eight in Italy and sending two arrest warrants for individuals already incarcerated in Germany and Switzerland, Gabriel Pombo Da Silva and Marco Camenisch, as well as conducting multiple interrogations, some of which were in connection to Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei.[23][24]

International activity

Although the Informal Anarchist Federation in Italy has existed for some time, in recent years several groups around the world have used the moniker to claim responsibility for their own attacks on government and corporate targets, including arson in Russia,[25][26] Argentina [27][28] and the United Kingdom.[29] In May 2012, the FAI in the UK announced their intention to "paralyze the national economy" during the 2012 Olympics in London.[30] This warning followed an attack by the British FAI May 22 Group on trainlines outside Bristol that succeeded in disrupting the rail system,[31] and an arson attack against the Lord Mayor of Bristol, Geoff Gollop.[32] On 3 January 2013 an FAI group set fire to a transmitter in Bath, resulting in television and radio outages to 80,000 homes.[33][34] On 25 November 2014 a group calling itself the Informal Anarchist Federation claimed responsibility for setting fires that destroyed 5 luxury cars in the Bristol suburb of Long Ashton.[35][36]

On 30 May 2012, four Bolivian youths were arrested in connection with a dynamite attack on a Bolivian military barracks and the bombing of a car dealership, both FAI claimed incidents.[37]

During a security briefing regarding the FAI, an Italian intelligence official cited Greece, Spain, Mexico and Chile as other countries in which the FAI was spreading networks into.[10] The similarities in ideology between the Italian FAI and a Mexican group involved in a parcel bombing that seriously injured two nanotechnology researchers has been noted elsewhere.[38] In September 2012, an FAI group in Mexico claimed responsibility for the shooting deaths of three municipal police officers in Mexico City.[39][40]

In addition, the Informal Anarchist Federation has ideological ties with Greek anarchist groups. FAI cells have named themselves after Olga Economidou, a currently imprisoned member of Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei, and Lambros Foundas, a member of Revolutionary Struggle who died in a shoot-out with Greek police in 2010.[41] A document from imprisoned Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei members cites the Italian FAI as an inspiration for their own activity.[42] Consequently, the FAI has praised Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei, stating "Conspiracy’s project, like ours, is based on the action and methods of revolutionary violence."[43]

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See also

References
  1. "Terrorist Organization Profiles - START - National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism".
  2. "A Profile of the Informal Anarchist Federation in Italy". Combating Terrorism Center.
  3. "Italy: Open Letter To The Anarchist & Anti-Authoritarian Movement (2003)". Anarhija.info.
  4. "(((i))) Indymedia Italy". indy media. December 2003. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  5. "Hallan artefacto explosivo en sucursal bancaria de la colonia Obrera". Excelsior (In Spanish). Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  6. "Reivindicación del artefacto explosivo en sucursal bancaria BBVA Bancomer, México". Grupo Bifurcación (In Spanish). Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  7. "Grenade Thrown At Russian Consulate In Greece; No Injuries Reported". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2019-07-01.
  8. "Greek Anarchists Claim Russian Consulate Grenade Blast". Voice of America News. Retrieved 2019-07-01.
  9. "Anarchists claim Rome bomb". ansa. 2017-12-07. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
  10. "«Pronti ad azioni da jihad» Il rapporto sugli anarchici". Archiviostorico.corriere.it. Retrieved 2014-12-02.
  11. "Bologna mail blocked after bombs". BBC News. 31 December 2003.
  12. "Italy acts over EU letter bombs". CNN. 31 December 2003.
  13. Sophie =Arie (1 January 2004). "Mail block to catch EU book bombs". The Guardian. London.
  14. Thomas Fuller (29 December 2003). "Italy investigates package sent to Prodi as a terrorist attack". The New York Times.
  15. "DailyTimes - Your Right To Know".
  16. Nataliya Rovenskaya (April 2013). "Anarchists and suspected mafia target Italian media". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  17. Associated Press. "Rome Embassy Blasts Wound 2; Anarchists Suspected". National Public Radio. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  18. "Anarchists Claim Responsibility for Pair of Embassy Blasts in Rome". Fox News. Associated Press. 23 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  19. "Anarchist group says behind Swiss parcel bomb". Reuters. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  20. Anarchist group claims letter bomb: German police Reuters. 8 December 2011.
  21. Tom Kington (11 May 2012). "Italian anarchists kneecap nuclear executive and threaten more shootings". The Guardian. London.
  22. "Fearing anarchist attacks, Italy tightens security". Los Angeles Times. 17 May 2012.
  23. Italian Police say arrested anarchists for attacks Euronews.
  24. "Anti-terrorist 'operation boldness': Arrests and house searches across Italy".
  25. "Russian anarchists fight capitalism with fire". France24. 5 August 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  26. "BITE BACK Magazine". Directaction. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  27. "Alarma por ataques vandálicos contra vehículos de alta gama". Infobae. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  28. "Argentina: Claim for arson attacks on luxury vehicles". War on Society. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  29. Shiv Malik (25 May 2012). "Anarchists claim responsibility for railway signalling sabotage in Bristol". The Guardian. London.
  30. Hannah Furness (27 May 2012). "Anarchist group vows to wage 'low level warfare' on Olympics". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  31. "FAI / May 22nd Group claim responsibility for sabotage on Bristol trainlines (UK)". 325.Nostate. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  32. "Bristol arson attack linked to anarchist terror network". Channel 4 News.
  33. "TV and radio blackout to 80,000 homes after transmitter fire". Bristol Post. 3 January 2013. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  34. "'FAI / ELF New Horizons of Burning Rage' take responsibility for media sabotage (UK)". 325 Nostate. 4 January 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  35. "Bristol car fires: Police examine anarchist claims". BBC. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  36. "Five cars including Audi, Range Rover and Porsche deliberately set on fire in Bristol". Bristol Post. 26 November 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  37. J. R. Castellón. "Detienen a 4 jóvenes por atentado a cajero". La Razón. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  38. jobs (28 May 2012). "Anarchists attack science". Nature News. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  39. Por Notimex (18 September 2012). "Reportan tres muertos y un policía desaparecido en Valle de Chalco". Periódico Zócalo. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  40. "Mexico: Responsibility claim for armed attack on a municipal police patrol car in the municipality of Valle de Chalco in EdoMex". Contra info. 21 September 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  41. Graham Johnson (1 February 2011). "I(talians) Believe, in Anarchy!". VICE. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  42. "Fire and Gunpowder: From Indonesia to Chile… A proposition for FAI/IRF (Global)". 325 Nostate. 9 December 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  43. Niki Kitsantonis (30 December 2010). "Bomb Blast Damages Athens Court Building". The New York Times.
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