The Brazilian authorities arrested 10 members of an Islamist militant group that was organising terror attacks, officials announced, raising tension around the country just two weeks before the start of the Olympic Games. According to media reports, all those arrested were Brazilian and two more suspects were being sought, he said.
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He added that the members had visited a weapons site in Paraguay that sells AK-47’s, but that there was no evidence they acquired any of the assaults rifle or weapons.
“The group was inspired by ISIS and only had contact with the group online, Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes said”.
“They were complete amateurs and ill-prepared”, Moraes said, per the AP. The suspects were detained in 10 different Brazilian states, largely in the southern part of the country. Several were allegedly trying to secure financing from the group, known by the acronym ISIS.
The SITE Intelligence Group that monitors the internet reported that the previously unknown group calling itself “Ansar al-Khilafah Brazil” and it had said on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday that it followed the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
She said her husband did not resist arrest and that police seized a computer and an e-book after searching their home.
Investigators said none of the suspects was of Arab descent.
Nevertheless, security remains a central issue for authorities and organizers of the Olympics.
“We were monitoring this group and knew exactly what they were doing, who they were”. He was arrested in France in 2009 after police had allegedly intercepted emails between himself and terrorist organizations.
Brazilians are allowed to possess small firearms but must have a license and training to do so.
Officials in Brazil have said concerns surrounding terrorism at the upcoming Games have “reached a higher level” following last week’s deadly truck attack in the French city of Nice.
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“Brazil will have more than double the security that London had during the last Olympics – but there are concerns that the country is not prepared to deal with global terrorism”.
