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Indian leaders, media, stoking fears with attack drone hysteria

A friendly word of advice to officials and media in India still going bat do-do over an alleged terrorist drone attack on one of the nation’s air force bases: Don’t do the work of extremists for them. That’s a reminder that anyone responding to suspected terror action should remember, but one particularly worth shouting above the hysterical din still raging in India more than a week after the June 27 incident.

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Suspected drone terrorist apprehended by Dutch police with help from FBI

FBI helps Dutch police apprehend suspected drone terrorist

Dutch media report that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had helped authorities in the Netherlands to apprehend 24-year-old Abdulkadir Ü. after he discussed plans to use drones in a terror attack on New Year’s Eve in Paris in online chatrooms. The suspected drone terrorist was arrested late last year after the FBI tipped off the Dutch police.


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Analysis supports claim drones were used in assassination attempt of President Maduro

Analysis supports claim drones were used in assassination attempt of President Maduro

The investigative team of the website Bellingcat has concluded through open source research that in the assassination attempt of President Maduro, it appears that “two drones attempted to attack a parade at which President Maduro was speaking”, that “both drones likely carried some form of explosive device” and that “one detonated near the parade, the other crashed and then likely detonated, causing a fire” and lastly that “it is not possible to accurately attribute this apparent attack without further information.” In the report, Bellingcat also indicates that the two drones might have been DJI Matrice 600’s.


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Concerns mount over weaponized drones after recent attacks in Venezuela

Concerns mount over weaponized drones after recent attacks in Venezuela

The assassination attempt on the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, in which allegedly two off-the-shelf commercial drones were used, has pushed the debate about the fast-growing industry and expansion of commercial drone flights while providing security measures against the misuse of the unmanned aerial devices to the foreground. Last weekend’s attack is believed to be the first of its kind targetting a head of state and maybe a sign of things to come. It has led to growing concerns among industry experts and government officials as they have yet to find an effective way to counter the threat of low-cost weaponized drones.


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Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro survives drone assassination attempt

Venezuela's president Nicolás Maduro survives apparent drone assassination

Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro has survived, what officials have called an apparent drone assassination attempt during a speech he was making at a military event. Government officials described drones armed with explosives detonating overhead after they were flown towards Maduro as he spoke to soldiers in Venezuela’s capital Caracas on Saturday afternoon.

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Russian military in Syria is ill-equipped to fight off drone attacks

PHOTO: OLGA BALASHOVA/RUSSIAN DEFENCE M/ZUMA PRESS

Last week we reported on the drone attack on the Russian airbase, Khmeimim as well as a naval facility in the city of Tartus on Syria’s western coast. In these attacks, 13 drones had been launched from as far as 35 miles away, according to the Russian defense ministry.

Today we learn that the heavily armed Russian military bases in Syria are ill-equipped to defend themselves against drone attacks from insurgent rebel groups opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.


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