A letter-bombing at a Mexican university could be the work of a shadowy anti-technology group which has committed a series of attacks targeting university professors for their research.
A professor at the Polytechnic University in Pachuca, Hidalgo, sustained minor burns on Wendesday after he opened an envelope bomb addressed to a colleague. Officials said the letter had been identified as suspicious by the intended recipient, and the victim was apparently investigating the envelope as a member of the school’s security committee.
While officials have not identified any suspects in the incident, it bears a resemblance to two separate mail bombings at technical institutes in Mexico City in August, one of which injured two professors. ·A group calling itself “Individuals Tending to the Wild” claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they had targeted the universities for their research into nanotechnology. Local media reported that a communique released by the group claimed that the researchers were furthering the “destruction, manipulation and domestication of the Earth.”
The group has also previously expressed support for Ted Kaczynski, otherwise known as the “Unabomber,” whose attacks on universities and airlines across the United States spanned nearly two decades, killing three people and injuring 23.
In response to the incident, Hidalgo authorities have announced heightened security measures at university campuses across the state.