Brazilian police arrested 10 people suspected of planning an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack at the Rio Olympics next month, authorities said Thursday.
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Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes said the group was part of a “novice cell” and that “they went from simply making comments about the Islamic State and terrorism to preparatory acts”. All the suspects are Brazilian and some had allegedly recently converted to Islam, he added.
De Moraes said he did not think these were high-level assassins; rather, they seemed “absolutely amateur-with no preparation”.
Brazil’s intelligence agency said it was reviewing all threats against the Rio Games after a jihadi message was detected that called for its followers to target the Olympics with “lone wolf” attacks. The arrests took place based on Brazil’s new anti-terror law for which Jewish officials had advocated.
Brazil’s intelligence agency said earlier this week that it was investigating threats to the Rio Olympics, which start August 5 after a purported Islamist group pledged allegiance to ISIS, according to Reuters.
The International Olympic Committee recently concluded that Rio de Janeiro had overcome setbacks and was “ready to welcome the world” to the 2016 Olympics.
The group did not have direct contact with IS, though some members had made “pro forma” declarations of allegiance to the militant Islamist group via social media, the minister said.
He said members of the group had visited a weapons site in neighbouring Paraguay that sells AK-47 assault rifles, but there was no evidence they had acquired any weapons.
Although the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, French authorities have said they have found no signs it was orchestrated by an extremist group. Two people will be brought in for questioning, in addition to the 10 already detained, he added.
Brazilian police arrested 10 people who allegedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group on social media and discussed possible attacks during the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, officials said Thursday.
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SITE Intelligence Group, a USA company that monitors the internet, reported the previously unknown group calling itself “Ansar al-Khilafah Brazil” said on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday that it followed IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and had promoted IS propaganda in Arabic, English and Portuguese. Authorities have said they will be prepared and that some 85,000 police and soldiers will be patrolling during the competitions. The last one was when a bomber attacked the 1996 games in Atlanta.
