Yesterday, Brazilian authorities arrested 10 people for planning to commit acts of terrorism at the Río Olympic Games and are still looking for two more suspects.
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Moraes said the communications including messages sent and received from WhatsApp, a smartphone application that has drawn the ire of the Brazilian government.
“The odds of a terrorist attack occurring in Brazil during the Olympics are minimal”.
A man holds a sign to show solidarity with Nice during the presentation of Olympic rings made from recycled material, at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, July 21, 2016.
Brazilian police and intelligence services have been cooperating with French, German, British, Israeli and US intelligence agencies regarding the arrests, the aide said.
Justice Minister Alexandre Moraes told a news conference on Thursday that all the detainees were Brazilian nationals.
After a call from a Jihadi messaging channel for detailed targets and methods and attacks against the games during Olympics, Brazil intelligence agency revealed that it has been reviewing all threats since this week.
Earlier this month, Rio de Janeiro State Police threatened to go on strike during the Olympics due to unpaid salaries and benefits packages.
The arrests come at a time of mounting concern over the possibility of a terrorist attack in Brazil.
“The police and the army have been involved in massive repressive operations in poor communities in Rio ahead of the games”, he said, adding there were widespread protests over police crackdowns.
Saigon Gohel, worldwide security director, told CNN “there is a concern, it has to be taken very seriously, but I also have a lot of faith that the Brazilian authorities are doing everything they can and we have to give them credit”.
Federal Police sources said they had been monitoring some members of the group for around a year after they accessed militant Islamist web sites. He did not elaborate. Two people are set to be be brought in for questioning, in addition to the 10 already detained.
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Moraes said police acted because the group discussed using weapons and guerrilla tactics to potentially launch an attack during the Olympics, which begin in Rio de Janeiro on August 5.
