Brazil probes Olympics threats after group backs Islamic State
Source: Reuters
Life | Tue Jul 19, 2016 6:48pm EDT
Brazil probes Olympics threats after group backs Islamic State
Brazil's intelligence agency said on Tuesday it was investigating all threats to next month's Rio Olympics after a presumed Brazilian Islamist group pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS) less than three weeks before the Games.
The SITE Intelligence Group that monitors the internet reported that a 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.
Brazilian authorities stepped up security measures following the truck massacre in Nice last week, planning security cordons, further roadblocks and the frisking of visitors in Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics.
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"All threats related to the Rio 2016 Games are being meticulously investigated, particularly those related to terrorism," the Brazilian intelligence agency ABIN said in a statement when asked to comment on the previously unknown group's claim of support for Islamic State.
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Read more:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-rio-islamic-state-idUSKCN0ZZ2V6