Scientists under attack by eco-anarchist groups

Nature : Amid Europe’s economic crisis, not only are anarchist groups on the rise but there is “an increasing degree of international networking between perpetrators,” according to a Swiss report. The objects of the attacks are scientists. The terrorists argue “that technology, and indeed civilization, is responsible for the world’s ills, and that scientists are the handmaidens of capitalism,” writes Leigh Phillips for Nature. The most recent attack occurred 7 May when a nuclear engineering executive was shot in the leg in Genoa, Italy. The group claiming responsibility is part of a larger organization that calls itself the Informal Anarchist Federation, which is also responsible for various bombings including an attack on a Swiss pronuclear lobby group in 2011. Based in Italy, the federation says that it is uniting with eco-anarchist groups in other countries, including Mexico, Chile, Greece, and the UK, to target nuclear and nanotechnology workers.