Security has been beefed up at the Mall of America in Minnesota after a video purported to be by extremist group Al Shabaab called for an attack on shopping malls in Western countries.
Mall of America said it was “aware of a threatening video which included a mention and images of the mall.”
Earlier on Sunday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Jeh Johnson, called the video “the new phase” of the global terrorist threat and warned the public to be vigilant.
The threat by the Somali group, affiliated to Al Qaeda, urged Muslims to attack shopping malls in the US, Canada, Britain and other countries. It singled out the Mall of America, in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, among others.
The reality is that Al-Shabaab has shown scant abilities to conduct operations outside of Somalia or neighboring countries such as Kenya.
Indeed, the only operation anyone associated with the group has attempted in the West is when a Somali man armed with an AX in 2010 forced himself into the home of Kurt Westergaard, a Danish cartoonist, who had depicted Prophet Mohammed with a bomb in his turban and tried unsuccessfully to break into the fortified safe room where Westergaard was hiding.
US authorities said there was no credible evidence suggesting a mall attack was in the works.
“We are not aware of any specific, credible plot against the Mall of America or any other domestic commercial shopping centre.”
The possibility remains, of course, that Al-Shabaab’s calls for attack on malls in the West might inspire a lone wolf attack. But there is no sign so far that Al-Shabaab’s recruits have actually plotted to launch an attack in the United States.
However, top officials also called for vigilance, and the Bloomington Police Department said additional security measures had been put in place at the mall.