Mall of America on High Alert Following Terrorist Threat
The Somalia-based terrorist group al-Shabaab has reportedly released a video threatening to attack major malls in the U.S., U.K. and Canada.
The al-Qaeda-affilated extremist group released a video over the weekend stating its plans to carry out attacks on western malls that are similar to the deadly Westgate Mall attack carried out by the group in 2013 in Nairobi, Kenya.
The video specifically pointed to the Mall of America, located in Bloomington, Minnesota, as one of its targets for a possible attack.
"If just a handful of mujahedin fighters could bring Kenya to a complete standstill for nearly a week, imagine what a dedicated mujahedin in the West could do to the American or Jewish-owned shopping centers across the world," an unidentified man says on the video, citing the Arabic word for "jihadist."
"What if such an attack was to occur in the Mall of America in Minnesota? Or the West Edmonton Mall in Canada? Or in London's Oxford Street?" the man continues, adding "hurry up, hasten towards heaven and do not hesitate."
As ABC News reports, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson released a statement saying the video represents a "new phase we've evolved in terms of the global terrorist threat and what we need to do in terms of counter-terrorism."
"Groups like ISIL [ISIS], al-Shabab, AQAP (al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula) are now publicly calling for attacks either through the internet, through videos, through publications, which means that we need to respond militarily but we also have to have a whole government approach through law enforcement, homeland security and frankly countering violent extremism efforts here in the homeland in communities," Johnson said on ABC's "This Week." "We're in a new phase now and I'm afraid that this most recent video release reflects that."
