CIA director warns of Istanbul-type attack in U.S.

The terrorist attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport on Tuesday has the Islamic State’s signature all over it, CIA Director John Brennan said in an interview published Wednesday, adding that the terrorist group is likely planning similar attacks in the United States.

 

“I am worried from the standpoint of an intelligence professional who looks at the capabilities of Daesh … and their determination to kill as many as people as possible and to carry out attacks abroad,” Brennan told Yahoo News, using the acronym for the Arabic name of ISIL.

 

Noting that the attackers in Istanbul wore suicide vests, Brennan said that the strategy to prevent further attacks is complicated by a “determined enemy” not concerned with getting away and the fact that making a suicide vest is “not that difficult.”

 

“I’d be surprised if Daesh is not trying to carry out that kind of attack in the United States,” said Brennan, who did not confirm to Yahoo that ISIL was behind the attack. The terrorist group has not claimed responsibility for the incident, which as of Wednesday morning had claimed the lives of 41 people and injured more than 200.

 

Read More: CIA director warns of Istanbul-type attack in U.S. – POLITICO