A group of pro-Palestine campaigners have been arrested following a break-in and vandalism incident at a defence technology company in Aberdeenshire.
Police were called to the site after reports emerged of activists forcing their way into the premises. The raid is the latest in a series of direct action protests carried out by pro-Palestine groups targeting firms with alleged links to the defence industry.
Scotland has seen a growing number of such protests over the past year, with activists increasingly focusing their attention on companies they claim supply technology or services connected to military operations. Aberdeenshire, home to a number of specialist defence and energy technology firms, has become a focal point for some of these campaigns.
Officers attended the scene and a number of individuals were taken into custody following the incident. The exact nature of the damage caused has not been fully disclosed, but reports indicate the break-in involved vandalism to property inside the facility.
The company involved has not yet made a public statement about the raid or the extent of any disruption caused to its operations.
Protest groups of this kind have argued that direct action is a necessary response to what they describe as complicity in the conflict in Gaza. Critics, however, have pushed back strongly, pointing out that breaking into private businesses and causing criminal damage crosses a clear legal line regardless of the political motivation behind it.
Police Scotland confirmed arrests had been made and that enquiries into the incident are ongoing.