The US State Department has warned that terror groups are planning attacks in South Africa’s biggest cities of Cape Town and Johannesburg, possibly during the upcoming month of Ramadan.
Targets include upscale shopping malls and places popular with US citizens, the State Department said in a statement on its website.
Brian Dube, a spokesman for South Africa’s Department of State Security, didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment left on his mobile phone.
Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo, a spokesman for the South African Police Service, declined to comment.
“The US Government has received information that terrorist groups are planning to carry out near-term attacks,” the State Department said.
“This information comes against the backdrop of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s public call for its adherents to carry out terrorist attacks globally” during Ramadan.
The US previously warned in September that extremists may be targeting American government and business interests in South Africa. Given its lack of military involvement in the Middle East, the country isn’t often linked with Islamic terror. The month of Ramadan begins Sunday.
brisbanetimes.com.au
