US Embassy warns Sandton may be terror target

GAUTENG – One of South Africa’s richest suburbs may be the target of a terrorist attack, according to an alert posted on the US Embassy’s website.

“The US government has received information that terrorists may be planning to conduct an attack targeting large gatherings of people at an unspecified location in the greater Sandton area” in Johannesburg this weekend, the embassy said in the statement. “There is no further information regarding the timing, method, or target of the potential attack.”

Islamic State has previously threatened to carry out attacks on South Africa for its involvement in a counter-insurgency operation in northeastern Mozambique, where the Islamist militants have been carrying out attacks since 2017. The nation is among members of the Southern African Development Community, a 16-member economic bloc, that deployed forces last year to help the Mozambican government quell the violence.

The embassy has advised its staff to avoid crowds of people and other large public gatherings in the area over the coming weekend. While South Africa has high levels of crime, Johannesburg, the nation’s biggest city and financial hub, hasn’t experienced a mass attack in decades.