The group that claimed responsibility for an arson attack on Jewish community ambulances in London is probably the first AI-led terrorist platform, researchers have said.
Whether the group exists beyond a Telegram channel has yet to be established. What is certain is the impact of the incident has shaken the local community, which is concerned over the possible spillover of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Explosions linked to gas canisters on the ambulances created a fireball in a north London car park in the early hours of Monday. CCTV showed masked men using accelerants to set the blaze. No one was injured in the attack on Machzike Hadath Synagogue on Highfield Road, Golders Green.
It did not take long for responsibility for the attacks to be claimed by a new group calling itself Harakat Ashab Al Yamin Al Islamiyya, or Ashab Al Yamin, which translates to the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right Hand.
The social media activity was directed through Telegram channels linked to Iraqi Shiite militia groups that are aligned to Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Tech Against Terrorism, non-profit organisation that monitors online extremism, said it is following the emergence of the group “very closely” and concluded “they are probably the first AI-led terrorist movement”.
“We have done a huge amount of analysis of the videos, Telegram channels and also their manifesto," Adam Hadley, Tech Against Terrorism's founder and chief executive, told The National.
“From what we can tell, a lot of this has been generated using ChatGPT or similar.”
The ambulances that were set on fire belonged to the volunteer-run charity Hatzola. Golders Green has a large Jewish population, with 30 synagogues.
The area is also home to a large exiled Iranian population, mostly loyal to the opposition. To add to the complexity, not far away in north London is a large community of Iraqi Shiite origin, people from which were backed to rise to power in Baghdad when the US overthrew the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
It is in Iraq that Mr Hadley's team identified the roots of the group. An unverified video posted at 6.13am on Monday on Harakat Ashab Al Yamin Al Islamiyya’s Telegram channel showed street view Google Maps images of the ambulances and footage of explosions.
At the start of the video posted on Telegram, a message in English said the group’s primary target was the Machzike Hadath Synagogue due to its links to Israel.
Two men aged 47 and aged 45, who were arrested on Wednesday morning in connection with the attack at addresses in north-west London and central London, have been released on bail.
“Although the two men have been released from police custody, there are strict bail conditions in place while we continue to investigate their suspected involvement in this incident," said Commander Helen Flanagan, the Met Police’s head of counter-terrorism.
“I can reassure the public that we will be closely monitoring these while we carry out further inquiries. We continue to work to try and identify all of those involved in this appalling attack and the investigation team is working around the clock to do this.”
