The Islamic State operatives behind the devastating 2015 Paris attacks had likely planned to hit even more targets, an investigation by CNN has found. Following a review of 90,000 pages of documents from internal European investigations, CNN reports that ISIS terrorists use encrypted, secure apps such as Viber and WhatsApp to disguise who they are contacting and from where, refer to each other with pseudonyms, and are only given as much money and information as needed to reach the next step in the planning of attacks.
A senior counter-terrorism official added that the Paris attacks that killed 130 people were a "slimmed-down version of an even more ambitious plan to hit Europe":
After interrogating suspects and gathering intelligence, European investigators now believe that ISIS initially planned for the operatives it sent last year to also attack the Netherlands, as well as other targets in France including shopping areas and possibly a supermarket in Paris, the official said.In addition, recently obtained intelligence indicates that ISIS has stepped up efforts to infiltrate operatives into the UK to launch attacks there, an official told CNN. [CNN]
Two operatives who were detained by Greek authorities due to fake Syrian passports apparently missed participating in the Paris attacks due to the delay. The pair planned another strike, but were arrested by Austrian security officials on suspicion of being connected to the November attacks. Read the entire report at CNN.
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