Brazilian marines stand guard at the Maua square in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on July 9, 2016, ahead of the Rio Olympic Games. PHOTO/AFP.
PARIS, France, July 14 – France was informed of a planned terror attack on its team at the Rio Olympics, according to the head of military intelligence cited in an official document.
The plans were revealed by General Christophe Gomart, head of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DRM), at a parliamentary commission in May investigating the November attacks in Paris which left 147 people dead.
In a section of the report, made public this week, Gomart told the commission that he had been informed of the plot planned by a Brazilian national “by our partners”.
No other details on the claims were made available by the French authorities.
Brazil’s institutional security cabinet, which co-ordinates the information services in the country, told AFP they had received no information from the French authorities.
“We were not the source of information and the Brazilian intelligence agency (ABIN) was not officially informed either of this matter,” a spokesman told AFP.
In early July, the Brazilian Minister of Justice, Alexandre Moraes, said a jihadist attack in Rio de Janeiro during the Olympics was a “possibility” but “not a probability”.
Some 85,000 members of the security forces 47,000 policemen and 38,000 soldiers will be mobilised to ensure the safety of 10,500 athletes as well as officials, journalists and tourists from around the world expected for the Games which run from August 5-21.
