Baku-APA. Fifteen days before the Olympics opening ceremony, Brazilian police have arrested 10 alleged Islamic State sympathisers who are suspected of planning an act of terrorism during the games. Two others are still at large, APA reports quoting the Guardian.
Justice Minister Alexandre Moraes described the suspects - all of whom are Brazilian - as “absolutely amateur and unprepared,” but he said they had sworn allegiance to Islamic State, celebrated the recent attacks in Orlando and Nice, and some of them had tried to buy AK47s.
He provided few details of those involved, but said they were spread across ten states, had a leader in Curitiba and kept in touch by the Whatsapp and Telegram messaging services.
Brazil’s intelligence agency ABIN is said to have worked with foreign counterparts to provide the information that led to the arrests, which were carried out by members of the police and armed forces mostly in the southern states of São Paulo and Parana.
The suspects did not have bomb materials, nor did they identify a target and some merely discussed taking up martial arts, but the authorities believe they were preparing a shooting attack similar to the one in Orlando.
The minister suggested the arrests were precautionary.
“Due to the proximity of the Olympics - when we will receive many foreigners - Brazil from that point on would start to become part of the target of these people,” he said. The suspects will be held for 60 days.
The operation comes after reports that a militant group Ansar al-Khilafah Brazil, which supports the Islamic State, launched a Portuguese-language call for jihad or holy war on the Telegram social network.
The government said last week that the threat of terrrorism had “reached a higher level” following the killings in Nice, France. In Rio de Janeiro, the authorities said they were planning additional security cordons, road checkpoints and body searches at Olympic venues.
Following Thursday’s arrests, the interim president Michel Temer was due to hold an emergency cabinet meeting.
Follow us on Telegram
t.me/apanewsaz
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on TikTok
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on X
