It said the attack could happen there on Saturday. (Representative)
Washington:
The US government on Wednesday warned of a possible “terrorist” attack over the weekend in the financial center of South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg.
It identified a potential target as Sandton, commonly known as the richest square mile on the African continent – an amalgamation of high-end shops and towering business office towers and banks.
“The US government has received information that terrorists are planning an attack targeting a large gathering of people at an unspecified location in the Greater Sandton area of Johannesburg,” the US embassy said on its website.
It said the attack could happen there on Saturday.
There was no immediate reaction from South African officials contacted by AFP.
Several alerts have been issued over the past years about possible and heightened imminent terrorist attacks on South Africa, but none have materialised.
The South African military has been helping neighboring Mozambique fight Islamist insurgency, where it has deployed more than 1,000 troops since July last year.
The embassy said it had no further information on “the time, method or target of a possible attack”, but advised its staff to “avoid people and other large public gatherings in the Greater Sandton area during the weekend of 29 to 30″. advised.” October 2022.
“We already have nothing more to add to the alert,” David Feldman, a spokesman for the US embassy in Pretoria, told AFP.
Johannesburg’s annual gay pride festival is set to take place in the Sandton area on Saturday, the first individual event after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic restrictions.
Following a 2016 alert issued by the US and UK, the South African government reacted angrily to “government incompetence, dangerous raids and attempts to generate a perception of public hysteria based on a suspected single source”.
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