Pasila and Rekola Group (Anarchist Entity, Finland)

• Local Name: N/a
• Transliteration: N/a
• Alternatives: N/a
• Status: 2011 – 2011 (Disbanded)
• Conflicts: Anarchist Militancy in Finland

The Pasila and Rekola Group [PRG] was an anonymous and shadowy outfit that was made up of about a dozen anarchists from Helsinki.¹ Although the group was only responsible for a few minor attacks, its actions received considerable attention because Islamists celebrated the acts after mistakenly assuming jihadis were responsible which in turn drew consideration by the international press.²

The PRG reportedly emerged in the spring of 2011 when members torched trash bins in a series of incidents across Helsinki. On Jun. 03, 2011 operatives planted a bomb outside the office of a security company in the Pasila neighborhood.³ The device did not explode. The following night, the PRG firebombed a fuel station in the Finnish capital’s Tapaninvainio suburb.⁴ The actions were subsequently claimed by the militants in a statement posted on an anarchist website.⁵ On Jun. 12, 2011, PRG operatives burnt the shed of a railway safety system in Vantaa’s Rekola neighborhood.⁶ The outfit asserted responsibility for the incident in an internet message the next day.⁷

In early August 2011, police arrested six people in connection with the Rekola incident. All were released shortly afterwards.⁸ Despite having identified several suspects, the authorities were unable to roll up the PRG.⁹ The outfit disbanded following the June 2011 incidents.