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The "Angry Birds Commando" group said they placed incendiary devices on a railroad between the two busy cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf. The group blamed industrial technology for the destruction of the environment.

...

The "Angry Birds Commando" group, in a letter posted on German left-wing website indymedia.org, said it placed incendiary devices on the railway line between Cologne and Düsseldorf.

A fire was ignited in two places between the German city of Leverkusen and the town of Langenfeld on Friday morning, stopping train operations and causing disruption. Firefighters extinguished the flames but the damage on the track remained.

...

Repair work on the train line is expected to continue through Saturday afternoon. The act of vandalism has caused cancellations and delays, and it's unclear when normal operations will resume.

German dpa news agency cited security sources who suspect the letter is genuine.

Meanwhile, Cologne police say an investigation has been launched and have put out a call for witnesses.

The "Angry Birds Commando" group has claimed responsbility for earlier sabotage, causing disruption on train line used by Deutsche Bahn between the cities of Düsseldorf and Duisdorf in 2025.

...

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[–] poVoq@slrpnk.net 56 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Shoddy journalism 🤦 The correct headline would be "Randos on the internet post on open website that allows anyone to post a letter claiming to be responsible for arson". This doesn't mean that they are "leftist", nor that this group even exists. And their expert source is likely some police officer that looked at the letter and said that it sounds plausible 🤦

[–] CapuccinoCoretto@lemmy.world 23 points 1 week ago

It's almost certainly Russian social media sponsored domestic terrorism, where they egg right wing idiots to act on behalf of russia with acts of sabotage, arson and terrorism.

Then a letter to deflect.

[–] Melchior@feddit.org 22 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Especially since environmentalists tend to like railways and leftists tend to not have as much of a problem with government owned companies. A more logical target would be an oil and gas pipeline, refinery or the like.

[–] huppakee@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

A more logical target would be an oil and gas pipeline, refinery or the like.

Which there are plenty of in close proximity

[–] falcunculus@jlai.lu 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Leftism is a lot wider and deeper than you seem to think. This is the individualist anarchist MO, and they don't like government owned companies since they are opposed to the existence of the state.

Railways are easy targets that won't cause accidents, and nontheless central infrastructure to industrial society. Disabling a pipeline would require heavy tooling and might cause an environmental disaster. Refineries are guarded and disabling them would require a mass movement, which this cell doesn't seem to have.

[–] DmMacniel@feddit.org 0 points 1 week ago

That's not catchy though. And we live in sensationalized times.

[–] PotatoesFall@discuss.tchncs.de 53 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yeah leftists and environmentalists famously hate railways 🤨

[–] DdCno1@beehaw.org 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

These are not your run of the mill leftists. They are the kind that even tankies would consider extreme. There are people out there who reject any kind of industrialized society and want to bring it all down (even to the point of humanity's extinction), so naturally they want to damage large infrastructure like railways.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

And how is that a leftist ideology?

[–] falcunculus@jlai.lu 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Assuming this is a serious question, they actually address this in their communiqué.

If you consider the system is destroying the environment at a worrying rate, and also that any response from within the system (ie electoralism) will be captured and neutered, and that any sufficiently large or long-lived organisation will abandon its stated aims in order to prioritize its own survival and the well-being of its leaders.. Autonomous cells that act against the system is a rational outcome. Probably they are also contributing to building up an alternative to the present system.

And they strike railways because there are long stretches of unguarded railways, it's easy to disable them if they are electrified, and since that prevents trains from running they won't cause accidents. Disabling a road or an airport is a lot harder. But trains are nontheless central infrastructure to the industrial society they are opposed to.

[–] CactusEcho@piefed.social 37 points 1 week ago (2 children)

the "Angry Birds Commando" group blamed industrial technology for the destruction of the environment: "This movement will prevent the planet from being shredded."

So let's destroy one of the most environment friendly means of transportation....

They can't be this stupid. I'm more inclined to say that this is russia's useful idiots.

[–] BigShammy80@feddit.org 16 points 1 week ago

100% russia sabotage, trying to give left wing a bad reputation

[–] ohulancutash@feddit.uk 10 points 1 week ago

A while back anti-oil protestors disrupted the start of the Formula E race in Berlin. They can be this stupid.

[–] Fusselwurm@feddit.org 34 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Lasst mich in Ruhe mit irgendwelchen Bekennerschreiben - solange es keine Festnahmen gibt, lässt sich aus dem Schreiben maximal ableiten wen der Täter verdächtigt sehen möchte.

[–] Ooops@feddit.org 10 points 1 week ago

... oder wen der deutsche Politik- und Medienzirkus gerne als Täter hätte.

[–] gajustempus@feddit.org 1 points 1 week ago

insbesondere, da bei indymedia JEDER einfach mal ALLES behaupten kann und es genau GAR NICHT nachprüfbar ist.

das ist, als würd wer mit ner Graffitidose nen Geständnis auf irgendeine beliebige Straße kritzeln

[–] pastermil@sh.itjust.works 16 points 1 week ago

The other left-wing: "don't bring us into your bullshit"

[–] tanteregenbogen@piefed.eurocomsocial.de 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Then they said "the statement was confirmed by security circles". Which security circles? Did they ask some dubious "expert" or what? If they said the attackers were anprims, MLs or right-wingers trying to frame the left, I'd be like "yeah such groups are crazy enough to do that", but the authenticity of the statement isn't clear.

Also where the hell is Duisdorf? I only know Duisburg.

Edit: I read the statement on indymedia and they describe themselves virtually as Anprims.

[–] CosmoNova@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Doubt an actual green radical group would attack trains just because they can. Makes no sense whatsoever. They must know it would shift people even more towards cars and short distance flights.

Anprims are against technology

[–] Telodzrum@lemmy.world -3 points 1 week ago

Ecoterrorists are fucking idiots, though. So this would actually track.

[–] falcunculus@jlai.lu 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

If anyone wants to read the actual communiqué, here is a machine translation:

Claim of Responsibility No. 8

We are responsible for the sabotage of the railroad line north of Leverkusen. Incendiary devices were placed in a large cable shaft at the northeast corner of the Wupper Bridge and in a narrower shaft halfway between the underpass and the radio tower. We used timers, which we had already described in “move fast and break things,” as well as one liter each of barbecue lighter fluid. We regret that the fire was able to spread slightly and thank the fire department for containing it. In the future, we will wait for more favorable weather.

There have been some journalistic blunders in the political interpretation of our actions. We had already distanced ourselves from the prevailing ideologies of our time in an earlier letter. The fact that even the Office for the Protection of the Constitution only skimmed the text should give pause for thought. To summarize briefly:

For those on the left, people are fundamentally equal in their abilities and worth. It follows, then, that all people should have roughly the same amount of power and the same economic status. Those on the right place greater emphasis on the differences between people. They argue that positions of power in the social hierarchy should be held by those with greater abilities. This debate is important and must be held in every society. However, the extent to which this cultural struggle has taken root in people’s minds now prevents us from focusing on what really matters. Conveniently, of course, the other side is always to blame.

We are in the midst of a mass extinction. If it is not stopped, sooner or later humanity itself will fall victim to it. The cause of this mass extinction is technological escalation. Those who profit from it call it “progress.” The cause of technological escalation is competition.

Since competition among living beings can be reduced but not eliminated, the elimination of industrial technology is imperative. If necessary, even a small minority can bring this about through sabotage. Governments and corporations are unable to do so because of the laws of competition, as they would have to undermine their own power base.

It is impossible to rebuild industrial production chains once they have been completely destroyed.

Plants, animals, and many people will immediately be better off as a result. For people in urban centers, the transition will be difficult, uncomfortable, and dangerous at first, but we will get through it. Over time, we will come to appreciate the benefits.

Our movement has many names: We are anti-industry. We are the anti-tech movement. We are biocentric. We are dark green. We are the new Luddites.

This movement will prevent the planet from being shredded. We are not asking for permission to do so.

If you wish to better understand the motivations of these people, I suggest reading some of their other writings, like their n. 3 letter which goes deeper into the subject. And then read some of the Switch Off stuff which unfortunately hasn't been translated but has the complete reasoning.

I'm not looking to either support or oppose them here, I just think people should form opinions based on actual sources rather than biased summaries, snide comments and their own preconceptions.

[–] Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 week ago

You want to save the environment by destroying one of the most environmentally friendly means of mass transportation?

This must be something I'm too left wing to understand.

[–] derAbsender@piefed.social 2 points 1 week ago

Ahja...

"Linke die gegen Klimasünder vorgehen wollen. Klimasünder wie zB den Individualverkehr. Und attackieren... Die öffentlichen Verkehrsmittel."

Natürlich.

Was als nächstes?

Der Papst zündet den Vatikan an, weil die Atheisten überhand nehmen?

Die Deutsche Presse fragt AfDler schwierige Fragen, weil die AfD offensichtlich keine Lösung hat und man sie stellen will?

Die Deutsche Politik geht gegen Milliardäre vor, um der Bevölkerung eine Zukunft zu sichern?

Tut mir leid aber ich glaube nicht!

[–] jesusactuallyhateshorses@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Do these angry birds not wear underwear?

[–] gajustempus@feddit.org 1 points 1 week ago

and they're not living in houses, flats or the like

so they SHOULD be easy to track down

[–] fisch@lemmy.world -5 points 1 week ago

Okay, some people need to get their definitions straight:

Environmentalists: Capitalism is great, but can we please make sure the bees don't die?

Leftists: Capitalism is okay I guess, but can we please treat workers fairly and pay living wages?

Not the same group of people!