Malls in US, Canada on Alert After Terror Threat
by VOA News February 23, 2015
Two shopping malls, one in the United States and the other in Canada, are operating with higher security measures following a terrorist threat made by Somali-based Islamist militants.
The Mall of America in the northern U.S. state of Minnesota and the Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Canada, both issued statements saying they were increasing security after al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab released a video Saturday appearing to call for attacks on Western shopping malls.
The terrorist threat specifically mentioned shopping areas in Canada, Britain and the United States, including the Mall of America.
On Sunday, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said authorities are taking the threat seriously. He said the global terrorist threat has evolved into militant groups 'publicly calling for independent actors in their homelands to carry out attacks.'
Kenyan attack
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for a September 2013 terrorist attack that killed 67 people at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Mall of America is one of the largest malls in the United States.
Minnesota is home to a sizable Somali immigrant population. A Minnesota man was recently indicted on charges of conspiring to support the Islamic State extremist group and lying to federal agents investigating recruitment by militant groups.
Prosecutors say dozens of people from Minnesota, many of them Somali-Americans, have traveled or attempted to travel overseas to support groups such as Islamic State or al-Shabaab since 2007.
U.S. law enforcement officials have been concerned about the potential for radicalization among members of immigrant communities.
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