Rio police learn lessons from Paris attacks

Brazilian police working to protect the Rio Olympics have liaised with their French counterparts several times to learn lessons from November's attacks in Paris.

The national stadium in the French capital was among the targets on November 13, when Islamist suicide bombers and gunmen went on the rampage, killing 130 people across Paris.

The Olympics are often a high-profile target and Brazilian police are eager to avoid Rio becoming hit in the same way Paris was when the Games take place in August.

"We, the Brazilian police, went to France several times," said the justice ministry's Andrei Rodrigues, who is in charge of security for major events in Brazil.

"We have had a report on the lessons learned about what happened in the attacks of November 13, before, during and after."

Brazil has stayed outside the war waged by the Islamic State group and other jihadists.

But three days after the Paris attacks, Maxime Hauchard, a leading French recruit of the Islamic State group, tweeted: "Brazil, you're our next target."

Source: AFP