Rio Olympics: Brazil Weighs Takfiri Threats

Local Editor

Brazil's intelligence agency said it was reviewing all threats against the Rio 2016 Games after a Takfiri messaging channel called for its followers to target the Olympics.

"Many [threats] are discarded and the ones that deserve attention are investigated exhaustively," the agency said.

Earlier this week, a Takfiri channel on the messaging app Telegram called for attacks against the Games and detailed targets and methods, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

SITE said a message was posted to "Inspire the Believers!" saying, "Lone wolf from anywhere in the world can move to Brazil now." The message also suggested using the Games to target the enemies of jihad, including Western athletes, and said it would introduce the hashtag "#RioLW."

Security experts said Brazil has no history of Takfiri activity and no established terror networks, making it difficult to pull off a complex attack at the Olympics. However, like many other cities, Rio faces the threat of an individual, or "lone wolf," terrorist and those are the people Takfiri social media are hoping to reach.

"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," said Sajjan Gohel, international security director at the Asia Pacific Foundation.

In the aftermath of the attack in Nice, France, Brazilian authorities said they were reviewing their Olympic security plan, widening perimeters around venues and adding checkpoints and traffic restrictions.

About 85,000 police, soldiers and firefighters will be on duty for the Games, more than double the number in London four years ago. On Wednesday, more than two weeks before the opening ceremonies, troops appeared on popular beaches, including Copacabana.

The Brazilian government confirmed that four people were rejected for Olympic accreditation because of suspected links to terrorism, out of 500,000 original applications.

Enrico Canali, spokesperson for Brazil's secretary of special events, a branch of the Justice Ministry, said a search of international databases revealed these four were wanted by police. He declined to identify their nationalities.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team