CIA Director Reveals Why They Failed to Prevent the Paris Massacre, Despite Knowing ISIL Was Planning an Attack

CIA Director John Brennan told CBS that the central intelligence agency had information that the Islamic State was planning some kind of terrorist attack just a few days before the massacre in Paris, in which 130 people were killed, reports the Patria news agency.

The agency and its partners were aware that ISIL was organizing covert activities before the attack, but attempts to thwart it were stopped by the "sophisticated" use of encrypted communication on the internet.

"We knew the system was lighting up red. We knew ISIL was trying to carry out something. But the individuals involved used the latest available methods of communication that are hidden from us," said Brennan, who told his agents after the attack that they must work better to prevent something like that from happening again.

He also revealed that he regularly speaks with the head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, and that the CIA directly contacts the FSB. The main topic of their conversations is informing Russian President Vladimir Putin about potential clashes between US and Russian aircraft in Syria, writes Index.