CIA chief warns against more Paris-like attacks

WASHINGTON

The head of the CIA on Monday warned of more attacks by Daesh that are similar to the ones conducted in Paris.

"I certainly would not consider it a one-off event," said John Brennan.

The agency received strategic warnings for a long time about the Paris attacks so the attacks were "not a surprise", he said.

"It is clear to me that ISIL has an external agenda, that they are determined to carry out these types of attacks," he added.

Brennan said Friday’s attacks were not conducted or planned in a short time but the militant group "carefully planned over the course, I think, of several months."

He said Daesh operatives succeeded in hiding from authorities for a long time while preparing for the attack.

"There has been a significant increase in the operational security in the number of these operatives in these terrorist networks because they have gone to school on what it is they need to do to keep their activities concealed from the authorities," he said.

He also said former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden's leaks have made it difficult for American intelligence to uncover terrorists.

“In the past several years, because of a number of unauthorized disclosures and a lot of handwringing over the government’s role in the effort to try to uncover these terrorists, there have been some policy and legal and other actions that are taken that make our ability collectively, internationally to find these terrorists much more challenging,” he said.