‘Anonymous’ Hackers Declare Their First Victory In Operation Charlie Hebdo
Anonymous appears to be taking baby steps in its war against the Charlie Hebdo attackers, temporarily taking down a jihadist website. The site went down for one or two hours, just enough time for Anonymous hacktivists to declare #TangoDown on Twitter. Still, there are a few additional developments.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, shortly after the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo headquarters, hackers from the activist group Anonymous declared war. The group opened a new Twitter account and hashtag, #OpCharlieHebdo, and made this ominous threat to the terrorists.
“You will not impose your sharia law in our democracies, we will not let your stupidity kill our liberties and our freedom of expression. We have warned you; expect your destruction. We will track you everywhere on the planet, nowhere will you be safe. We are Anonymous. We are legion. We do not forget. We do not forgive. Be afraid of us, Islamic State and Al Qaeda — you will get our vengeance.”
The first “victory” has come through, but it appears to fall short of Anonymous’ rhetoric.
The group posted this screenshot on the Twitter account.
#TangoDown : http://t.co/rHJrjTZ8mA Expect us. #JeSuisCharlie #OpCharlieHebdo #CharlieHebdo pic.twitter.com/RK7gBWr8QS
— OpCharlieHebdo (@OpCharlieHebdo) January 10, 2015
Unfortunately, that particular website, classified a jihadist page by French authorities, was back up and running just a few hours later. On the Operation Charlie Hebdo Twitter page, Anonymous also put up this request:
Do you want to help us? Find terrorists twitter profiles, report them. #No2IS #JeSuisCharlie #OpCharlieHebdo #CharlieHebdo #StopDonkyLovers — OpCharlieHebdo (@OpCharlieHebdo) January 9, 2015
The war is still young, and it’s still too early to tell if Operation Charlie Hebdo has collected any useful intelligence.
As for the Charlie Hebdo killers themselves, one accomplice surrendered early in the manhunt. According to Yahoo News, the two other assailants, brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, were killed in a violent gunfight with the authorities. Now, the hunt begins for whoever else may have supported the initial attack.
Various terrorist groups have weighed in on the Charlie Hebdo shooting. According to the Jerusalem Post, Hamas condemned the killings, saying “differences of opinion and thought cannot justify murder.”
ISIS and al-Qaida, on the other hand, have praised the attack, some calling it “heroic” or “joyous” on social media.
The shows of support should make it easy for Anonymous to determine who and what to attack, if the group gets into full swing.
The most impressive piece so far to come out of Anonymous’ war, may be the new video to declare that it is “time for action” in Operation Charlie Hebdo (see below).
