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Benjamin Strick

Aug 8, 2018 • 16 tweets • 12 min read • Read on X

Google Earth imagery in #Nigeria's #BornoState shows systematic destruction of countless traditional villages and urban areas - victims of the war against #BokoHaram
medium.com/@benjamindbrow…

Villages like Mutube near the Sambisi Forest have disappeared without a trace as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency in 2017.

These two small traditional villages that once sat on the southern side of the Sambisi were erased between 2016 and 2017.

These buildings sitting on an integral junction of a highway in #Nigeria's north, just south of #Bama, show signs of their destruction.

Defensive measures from the constant barrage of #BokoHaram suicide bombings and attacks have been trenches. This strategic highway junction south of Nguro-Soye is guarded with this tactic. The YouTube clip from a Nigerian city shows how deep they are.

Nguro Soye, 10km south-east of Bama in Nigeria's north, was quite an active town. Satellite imagery from March, 2018, shows its current destructive state.

These two satellite images show the scale of displaced Nigerians seeking refuge in #Dikwa (Satellite images from Nov, 2016 and March 2018).

Many displaced Nigerians cross the border into #Cameroon seeking refuge. Satellite images show #Minawao Refugee Camp in the #MayoTsanaga region of Cameroon growing into a city with more than 95,000 refugees since 2014.

Far North Cameroon's Kolofata has also started implementing Nigeria's trench protection system as of Spetember last year, as a way to stop Boko Haram suicide bombers from enterring the town.

Satellite images from the garrison town Monguno, Nigeria (2015/2018). This is another one of Nigeria's safe havens, protected by a trench encircling the town.

Google Earth from the north-east area of Monguno, Nigeria (2015/2018). This protected town, and others like it, offer refuge for more than 1 million displaced Nigerians.

goo.gl/maps/tE38ci6C4…

@AmnestyNigeria

Nigeria's President: Boko Haram militants 'technically defeated' (December 2015). bbc.com/news/world-afr…
This is Monguno, in Nigeria's Borno State (2015 and 2018). This is not what winning a war looks like. @AmnestyNigeria

Some villages in the Borno State, despite their neighboring communities being destroyed, have expanded in recent years. This #Nigeria village's development was quite interesting, given the rest of the villages in the area have been wiped out by #BokoHaram

On August 10, this developed village (above) was bombed by Nigerian Air Force as a suspected #BokoHaram hotspot.
Location: goo.gl/maps/JwAz5nxug…

A second village, further South of the first strike, was bombed by a #Nigeria Air Force gunship on August 10. This village had only begun to exist since 2014 and was suspected to be a lead #BokoHaram stronghold.
Location of suspected BH camp: goo.gl/maps/PTZbFj9ge…

@googleearth

Freely available satellite imagery can indentify human rights abuses, war, and assist journalists in their verification of details. Two tools are @googleearth and @sentinel_hub. Here's a quick run through on them from me in my first @bellingcat article.
bellingcat.com/resources/how-…

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More from @BenDoBrown

Benjamin Strick

@BenDoBrown

Sep 18

I was recently on a flight across Australia when I spotted this massive figure on the ground. It led me on a digital journey to find out what it was, how it got there and who made it.

I'm going to explain a bit more about what it is in this thread, and how I found out. 👇🧵

Without internet on the plane, I made a screenshot on my phone of the location (yes it was on flight mode) and later used flight tracking to pinpoint exactly where I saw it.

Using @flightradar24, I traced the path my plane took and found the spot!

Next stop: @googleearth 🗺️

I zoomed into the area and there it was — this huge humanoid figure etched in the Australian outback. Measuring 2.7km tall and covering an area of more than 1.7 square kilometres, it's a sight to behold.

Here's the location: -29.527084, 137.465400

Read 8 tweets

Benjamin Strick

@BenDoBrown

Sep 2

https://twitter.com/BenDoBrown/status/1828790074873716799

Despite our reporting last week on the fake network of pro-Trump MAGA accounts, there appears to be many more accounts actively posting the exact same content. This one, @brenda_otto_ with 18k+ followers, is stealing photos from an Australian Instagram model in Queensland.

https://twitter.com/BenDoBrown/status/1828790074873716799

Here's another fake MAGA account, @Tracy_Miller044, stealing images from a fashion blogger (a popular one too).

@Tracy_Miller044 - if you want to reach out and talk about your work, why you're running these campaigns etc, I'm open.

Here is @Sarah_Hickey__

Sarah is stealing the photos of a Czech Instagram influencer to create a persona claiming to be a MAGA republican conservative with 40k+ followers and a blue tick (which means it's apparently not misleading).

@Safety @GlobalAffairs @elonmusk

Read 4 tweets

Benjamin Strick

@BenDoBrown

Aug 28

A network of fake accounts are posing as young American women, posting pro-Trump content and disinformation, but they’re hiding behind, and manipulating, the images of European fashion influencers.

Our latest investigation at @Cen4infoRes. Details in this thread 🧵👇

Our full analysis can be seen at @Cen4infoRes here: . We also collaborated with @CNN to dig out the human stories behind those who had their photos stolen

Let's look at the some details below 👇info-res.org/post/unmasking…
edition.cnn.com/2024/08/28/eur…

One of the accounts is Eva. She lives in the US, and likes hanging out at the beach and posting to her 5000+ followers on X. Eva posts strong opinions against LGBTQ people and the US Democratic party and is a loyal supporter of former US president Donald Trump.

Read 21 tweets

Benjamin Strick

@BenDoBrown

Jul 9

Today US DoJ announced seizure of two domains and the search of 968 accounts on X used in a "Russian-government backed campaign" to spread disinformation.

Affidavit includes all of the accounts requested from X 👇

The DoJ announcement said the campaign used elements of AI to create fictitious social media profiles purporting to belong to individuals in the United States, which the operators then used to promote messages in support of Russian government objectives. justice.gov/opa/pr/justice…

The affidavit for the accounts on X shows that all of the accounts were registered to email addresses that were either using the domain 'otanmail' or 'mlrtr' justice.gov/d9/2024-07/aff…

Read 9 tweets

Benjamin Strick

@BenDoBrown

Jun 13

A new coordinated network of fake accounts pretending to be ‘Real Sikhs’ is targeting activists, stoking tensions and promoting Indian Govt narratives.

Who are they, what do they post, and how do they spread their campaign? Report:
Let's take a look 👇🧵 info-res.org/post/return-of…

https://x.com/BenDoBrown/status/1463314528821727235

Before we start, it's important to note that this is not the first time we have exposed a network like this at @Cen4infoRes. In Nov 2021 we identified a similar network. But in the months after the accounts were removed, new accounts popped up.

https://x.com/BenDoBrown/status/1463314528821727235

In this new network, what we do know is the network of fake accounts posts content to undermine Sikh activists, stoke cultural tensions and promote Indian government narratives. But who are the accounts, and how are they posting so that we can catch future attempts?

Read 15 tweets

Benjamin Strick

@BenDoBrown

May 26

In April, CNN journalists were led to the 'home' of Haitian gang lord Vitel’homme Innocent and interviewed him. He is on @FBIMostWanted's Top 10, with a bounty of up to $2 million.

I mapped their drive and found his home here: 18.5278, -72.2314. Here's how👇🧵

First, I did this because knowing the location of where a gang lord responsible for horrible violence is helpful, even if he might not be there after CNN visited. Vitel is the leader of Kraze Barye and is on the @FBIMostWanted list for taking hostages, and sanctioned by UN.

This is the footage I used to geolocate Vitel'Homme Innocent's house, where the interview was conducted. I'll go through some of the scenes to provide proofs of how I made the geographical matches, using Google Earth.

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