US says has intel on plans for terrorist attacks in South Africa

Country’s security agencies say they’re capable of keeping nation safe

The US government has received information that terrorist groups are planning to carry out attacks against shopping areas where its citizens congregate in South Africa, its embassy said on Saturday.

“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 the upcoming month of Ramadan,” it said.

It singled out up-market shopping areas and malls in the commercial hub of Johannesburg and Cape Town, widely regarded as South Africa’s tourism capital, as the main target areas.

Last September, the US also warned its citizens of a possible attack by “extremists” against its interests in South Africa, a stable democracy seldom associated with Islamist attacks.

The embassy and consulates in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town closed for several days in 2009 after what US officials described as a “specific” threat to diplomatic missions in the country.

South African security agencies are capable of ensuring the safety off all people residing in the country, its foreign affairs spokesman said on Saturday after the US Embassy warned of the attacks.

“The state security agency and other security agencies in this country are very much capable of keeping South Africa safe. The security of this country is as good as it always has been,” a representative said.