Frag Out! Magazine
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potential sentence, the act above cannot be viewed as an act of terror. In August 2018 a three-story building collapsed as a result of an explosion of flammable materials (core and shell state). It was a part of a newly established estate. The Brygada Wschód (Brigade East) environmental radicals took credit here, requesting the construction works to stop. 6 months later a male suspect was arrested, with the court proceedings having been launched in 2020. During the Parada Równości (Polish, "Equality Parade"), an LGBT community pride parade, in September 2019 a marriage was arrested in Lublin. They were caught attempting to smuggle primitive IEDs made out of gas lighter fluid containers and firecrackers wrapped in tape and copper wire. The couple was intending to use the IEDs against the crowd of participants. Other incidents - including attacks targeting Polish citizens abroad - were also taking place. Hijackings and Polish involvement in the activities undertaken by foreign terrorist cells, abroad, were also recorded. We also know about at least several Polish citizens involved in the fights in Iraq and Syria, alongside the Jihadists. In June 2015, Jacek S., 28 years old, carried out a suicide attack with the use of SVBIED, against an Iraqi Army checkpoint at an oil refinery near Bayji, north of Baghdad. 11 persons died instantly, 27 were injured. The attack was a coordinated strike that happened simultaneously with several other attacks against governmental targets in Bayji, with ISIS being the main actor here. The most serious of the incidents took place in Carpathian Ruthenia or Zakarpattia. Back in 2018 a terrorist attack targeting a Hungarian cultural center in Uzhgorod, in Western Ukraine, took place. As the investigators found out, the attack was carried out by two Poles, recruited via another Pole, an active member of the Falanga organization. The arson was to escalate tensions between Poland, Hungary, and Ukraine. Three suspects were arrested in Poland, and sentenced to restriction of liberty/ imprisonment. Furthermore, some persons have been trailed in the UK, for being a part of extreme right organizations. The PTBN's report mentioned above also includes a chapter that outlines the challenges that the anti- terrorist system may be facing, with suggested solutions of the emerging issues, that are both a part of the scientific reflection, as well as everyday lives of the uniformed services. Out of the seven problems listed, below we discuss three key areas. First, the broad availability of publications, handbooks, or manifests published by terrorists is a problem. These documents contain IED design and terrorist attack manuals. Thus, one should strive to use a broad spectrum of assets that would prevent the dissemination of content that is designed to make the acts of terror less challenging. Dissemination or public presentation of content as such is nowadays penalized solely when the perpetrator is willing to commit a crime as such (Article 255 of the Criminal Code). This means that publishing content as such online, in the generally accessible cyberspace, would not be penalized. One should consider the use of a regulation of nature similar to Article 256 - obtaining and dissemination of information as such for purposes different than research or education are penalized. Secondly, the Polish counter-terrorism system is creating numerous units - Police, Special Forces, Military Police, Border Guard, and Internal Security Agency, and other services, all have counter-terrorist elements of their own. These are subordinated to a plethora of legal acts that contain the procedures for cooperation between the services, and that sometimes come in a form of memoranda that further specify the rules of cooperation. The current legal regulations in force envisage different decision-making schemes, and varied rules of engagement for the soldiers, should an incident involving terrorists occur. If an event of such nature is sudden and unpredictable (as it usually happens), this may lead to a delay of effective reaction. The available personnel or equipment may not be used to the fullest. Hence the need to make these procedures, involving the counter-terrorist elements, www.fragoutmag.com