The Wire - January 2, 2024

this is the wire for 2200 Zulu January 2nd 2024 president's routine information cut off is 2100 bottom line up front New Year's vehicle born IED attack strikes Rochester New York Iran increases presence Patrols in the Red Sea beginning with international events in the Red Sea Horn of Africa region diplomatic tensions escalate as an Iranian warship transits into the Red Sea in response to the sinking of houthi boats anal comment as Iranian forces become more actively involved in the region the nomenclature of Iranian vessels will become confusing as Iranian Naval organization is like none other the iris elvor is classified by Iran to be a frigate but in international terms is really more characteristic of a destroyer or a guided missile destroyer depending on the upgrades present on board this vessel has been in the area for weeks but has taken a more direct patrolling profile following the escalation of combat operations in theater it is also important to note that Iran has strategically placed several intelligence collection vessels in the region who the United States has accused of providing targeting information to Yemen on the home front in New York an attempted vehicle born IED attack was conducted at the Kodiak center in Rochester on New Year's Eve details are extremely sketchy but initial reporting indicates that a man attempted to carry out a possible VB attack on the crowd gathered in attendance of a holiday concert at the venue timing the attack for the end of the concert so as to achieve maximum success allegedly the attacker who has been identified as Michael Avery filled a rental vehicle with over a dozen containers of gasoline and attempted to conduct a vehicle ramming attack at the entrance of the theater an Uber driver unaware of this plot was inadvertently involved in a motor vehicle accident with the as salant as he made his attack run which ignited the gasoline prematurely FBI joint tourism task forces and explosive ordinance disposal Personnel have been observed investigating the hotel room where the attacker staged before the attack suggesting more deliberate planning was involved in this attack a suicide note was allegedly found at this location so far even the casualty count has been difficult to determine as official statements have not been forthcoming with information however piecing together what information is public two people possibly the people in The Uber vehicle were killed and the as salent also reportedly died of burns at a local hospital shortly after the attack three people were also injured in the attack analyst comments for this wire details regarding the Rochester vbied attack are few and far between as local authorities have likely been issued orders to conceal details of the investigation as it has become a cultural standard to conceal the mere occurrence of Terror attacks from the general public as such eyewitness reports from locals are really the only sources of information much like the Rainbow Bridge incident from a few weeks ago the official story of which still has many intelligence gaps and is generally dubious in nature follow on information will likely not be made public there are additional details that may indicate that this incident was not isolated and may have involved other crimes in the general vicinity before the attack however details are again too unreliable for any concrete links to be made at this time however much operational intelligence can be gained from this incident the attacker chose a soft target comprised of large groups of unarmed people and a location where he knew vehicle barriers would not be in placed this event will largely be out of the public Consciousness within a week but heightened situational awareness is recommended moving forward into the new year especially in public venues that host large Gatherings of unarmed people this concludes the wire for 2200 Zulu January 2nd 2024