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Title: January 13, 2026

GRAY ZONE BRIEF 13 JANUARY 2026
 
ROBLOX COMMITTING NEXT LEVEL EVIL
 
**Her daughter died after falling in with online extremists who idolize school shooters. Now, she's warning other parents** - Thirteen-year-old Audree loved to play Nirvana on guitar, draw anime characters and read the series "Spy School," her mother, Jaimee Seitz said. A week after her 13th birthday, Audree died by suicide.
 
Days later, a detective called Seitz to tell her that Audree's journal contained drawings of school shooters. On Roblox, Discord and TikTok, she had been interacting with children and adults in the online True Crime Community, or TCC, who glorify mass shooters and encourage violence and self-harm. Seitz said Audree was only 8 years old when she was first exposed to TCC.
 
Extremism experts classify TCC as a subculture of nihilistic violent extremism, in which participants are not motivated by a particular ideology but instead driven by a generally misanthropic worldview. Some are driven by a desire to achieve notoriety within online communities through violence or self harm, while others target and exploit vulnerable individuals.
 
The FBI has seen a 300% increase in nihilistic violent extremism cases from September 2024 to September 2025. The misanthropic violence, absent of ideology, exhibited by attackers involved in TCC has been categorized as nihilistic violent extremism — a term that has increasingly appeared in Justice Department announcements of criminal charges across the country.
 
Some nihilistic violent extremists carry out violence with the goal of hastening the collapse of society — a philosophy known as accelerationism. But for most, experts said, their mindset mostly revolves around nihilism — the belief that life and society are meaningless and that moral values are baseless.
 
2 U.S. CITIZENS MURDERED IN GRENADA
 
**Level 2 advisory cites armed robbery, assault, burglary and rape targeting US citizens
The U.S. State Department has issued an increased travel advisory pertaining to Grenada, due to the "risk of crime."
 
The Level 2 advisory was updated Jan. 5, with a warning about "violent crime." Americans have been victims of armed robbery, assault, burglary and rape.
 
"In some cases, American citizens have been killed. Police response times are not as fast as one may expect in the United States," the advisory says.
 
Officials also warn travelers to physically avoid resisting any robbery attempt and to "keep a low profile."
 
About 16.8 million Americans visited the Caribbean in 2024, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization.
 
The U.S. Embassy is located in the country’s capital of St. George, which is the biggest city on the island.
 
The State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security’s Grenada report noted that regional police forces do usually cooperate with U.S. counterparts.
 
"However, response time to law enforcement and security requests can at times be quite slow due to inadequate funding, lack of equipment and training, and staffing shortages," the report said.
 
The State Department has four travel advisory levels to help travelers assess safety risks before visiting other countries.
 
The advisory levels are: Level 1 – Exercise Normal Precautions; Level 2 – Exercise Increased Caution; Level 3 – Reconsider Travel; and Level 4 – Do Not Travel.
 
UK ISLAMIC EXTREMIST MOSQUE
 
**Channel 4 exposé revealed extremism at mosque that advised police** - The Dispatches programme found Islamist extremism at the Green Lane Masjid (Mosque) whose chief executive later assessed the new chief constable. The police recommended a ban on Israeli football fans attending a match in Birmingham after consulting a mosque that the force previously supported after it was linked to Islamist extremism. The revelation will increase pressure on Craig Guildford, the chief constable of West Midlands, following calls for his resignation from Jewish leaders and MPs including Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader. One of the Muslim groups consulted, the Green Lane Masjid, was the focus of an investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches called Undercover Mosque which revealed Islamist extremism. The mosque’s chief executive was part of a panel which assessed Guildford before he was appointed chief constable.
 
DAESH/ISIS ATTACK IN IDLIB
 
**ISIS-style armed attack | Unidentified gunmen attack security posts in Idlib countryside** - Unidentified gunmen targeted two outposts in Sfuhen and Al-Faterah towns in Idlib countryside yesterday evening, using rockets and machineguns. Fierce clashes erupted with security forces stationed at the attacked sites, before the attackers escaped. After the attack, security forces in the region were put on high alert.
 
INDIA — TERRORISM
 
**NIA charges two more in Assam Independence Day bomb plot case** - India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday filed a supplementary chargesheet against two more individuals in connection with the seizure of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) during Assam’s Independence Day celebrations in 2024, raising the total number of accused in the case to five. Bhargab Gogoi and Sumu Gogoi, both residents of Dibrugarh district, were arrested in June 2025 after investigators uncovered their alleged role in financing the bomb plot. The NIA invoked provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Explosive Substances Act, and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act while filing the chargesheet before the Special Court in Guwahati.
 
COLUMBIA
 
**A suspected member of the ELN (Ejército de Liberación Nacional) was captured in Aguachica, Cesar, for an attack on a military base that left 7 soldiers dead** - During military operations in the southern part of the Cesar department, Army units carried out an operation in the urban area of ​​the municipality of Aguachica, resulting in the capture of a suspected member of the ELN armed group. This action is part of the security measures deployed following the attack on a military base on December 18, 2025, which left seven soldiers dead. The operation was carried out by troops from the Fifth Brigade, specifically the 14th Infantry Battalion Captain Antonio Ricaurte, under Operational Plan Ayacucho Plus and with support from the National Police.
 
**NOTE: The Camilista Union - National Liberation Army Ejército de Liberación Nacional - Unión Camilista, ELN-UC), and commonly called the National Liberation Army (ELN), is a Columbian far left guerrilla insurgency group involved in involved in the continuing Colombian government which has existed in Colombia since 1964. The ELN advocates a composite of Catholic communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism
 
IRAN
 
Deadly protests. After more than two weeks of widespread protests, Iranian state media on Sunday aired video showing mass casualties at a morgue in Tehran. U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened U.S. military intervention if Iran cracked down on the protesters, said Sunday that Iranian officials had reached out “to negotiate.” Reza Pahlavi, Iran’s exiled crown prince and son of the deposed shah, said he was preparing to to Trump to “intervene to help the people of Iran.” Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed support for Iran’s protesters and told his Cabinet that Israel and Iran could become partners again after the fall of the current regime in Tehran.
 
**NOTE: President Trump’s 3 main target options for strikes are:
 
1. Missile production
Iran is still building ballistic missiles and importing solid rocket fuel precursors such as sodium perchlorate from China. The CIA’s map shows more than two dozen above- and below-ground sites across Iran linked to testing, development, production and storage of missiles. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu let it be known in late December that Iran was trying to rebuild its missile stocks and air defenses. He probably shared more details during his visit with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Dec. 30. Iran expended hundreds of missiles in strikes on Israel in 2024-25 and wants to get back the ability to target Israel with big salvos. That would be bad.
 
2. Space launch facilities
Iran has over 30 satellites in orbit and Russia just launched three more for them in December. That’s the last thing we need; rogue Iranian satellites. Worse, Iran’s space launch rockets are easy to repurpose as attack missiles. Iran popped an undeclared ballistic missile out of their Iman Khomenei spaceport back in September. That’s in violation of U.N. sanctions, by the way. It wouldn’t surprise me if their new launch facility under construction at Chabahar is also on the watch list.
 
3. Drone factories
Iran’s infamous drones used to hit Ukraine are made by Shahed Aviation Industries, run in part by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Don’t forget that the IRGC is also a big business operation. The IRGC funds terrorism, so their drone business is a legitimate military target. Too bad the drone factory Iran set up in Russia won’t be on this list.
Any options briefed to the president will come with extensive evaluation of ways to prevent collateral damage or inadvertent civilian deaths. The aim, after all, is pressure on the regime.
 
SYRIA
 
Syrian operation. After several days of violence, the Syrian military took control of two mostly Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo. Fighters with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces agreed to leave the neighborhoods on buses for northern Syria. The defense ministers of Syria and Turkey also exchanged views.
 
NATO
 
NATO in Greenland. British, French and German officials are drawing up plans for a NATO mission in Greenland to address U.S. warnings that Russia or China could seize it. The potential force could include British warships, planes and soldiers.
 
U.S. & UKRAINE
 
Creating stakeholders. The U.S. and Ukraine could sign a 10-year, $800 billion postwar reconstruction agreement when their leaders meet next week in Davos. Kyiv hopes that by giving Washington a stake in its recovery, the White House will be more willing to offer security guarantees. Meanwhile, Ukraine awarded the right to develop the Dobra lithium deposit, one of its largest, to a consortium of investors with close ties to the Trump administration.
 
EU MILITARY GOALS
 
Joint EU force. Europe should create a 100,000-strong standing military force to replace U.S. troops on the Continent, EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said. He also called for the creation of a European security council made up of both permanent and rotating members and including a U.K. representative.
 
ISRAEL
 
Military independence. Israel should not depend on foreign military support and ought to eliminate it within 10 years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
 
JAPAN’S ASIAN SECURITY COOPERATION
 
Japanese security aid. Japan wants to expand its Official Security Assistance scheme to include Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, an unnamed senior Japanese official said. Launched in 2023, the OSA provides military support to developing countries that Tokyo has identified as desirable security partners. Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand are already recipients of OSA aid. The program’s budget will more than double in 2026 to 18.1 billion yen ($114.6 million). Separately, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called China’s ban on exports to Japan of dual-use goods “unacceptable” and “counter to international practices.”
 
U.S. & PAKISTAN
 
U.S.-Pakistan drills. U.S. and Pakistani forces began two-week joint counterterrorism exercises at the National Counterterrorism Center in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
 
—END REPORT