South African target next on Islamic State terror list: report
South African immigration officials were put on high alert this past month as two suspects affiliated with terrorist group Islamic State were intercepted trying to enter the country through Turkey.
According to the Sunday Times, Abu Osama an Iraqi national and bomb maker for the Islamic State terrorist group was reportedly stopped at Turkey’s Ataturk airport, minutes before boarding a plane to OR Tambo.
The incident occurred just days after immigration officials at OR Tambo flagged another suspected terrorist entering South Africa from Turkey.
“Our intelligence officials believe Abu wasn’t coming to South Africa to recruit for IS, but to identify a specific target that would later be attacked,” Iraqi ambassador Saad Kindeel said.
He also confirmed that Iraqi officials had more information on the attack but were not able to share it, as the South African government was taking its time signing a memorandum of understanding in which both countries agreed to share security information.
State Security Minister David Mahlobo confirmed the threats, but noted he wasn’t delaying the memorandum – rather the country was in the process of setting up a task team to deal with the terror threats and process the Iraqi information.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, an anonymous source with direct access to South Africa’s anti-terror investigations revealed that many IS-linked foreigners were currently receiving training and recruiting for the organisation in South Africa.
However, they noted that South Africa itself was not the focus of the attack, but rather that there was a risk against foreign assets based in the country.
South Africa had its terror-threat level upgraded in June 2016, after the US embassy issued a warning of possible terror attacks on American within South Africa’s borders.
This resulted in other embassies following suit with both Australia and England warning its citizens to stay away from densely-populated shopping malls and other high-risk areas.
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