Donald Polish
VIP Member
The head of US homeland security has warned Americans to be vigilant after a terror threat to one of the country's largest shopping centres.
Jeh Johnson said he took the threat by the Somalia-based, al Qaeda-affiliated group al-Shabab seriously.
In a video, the group urged followers to carry out attacks on shopping centres in the US, Canada and the UK.
Al-Shabab was responsible for the 2013 attack on Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi that killed 67 people.
Mr Johnson told CNN that the threat was part of "a new phase" of terrorism in which attacks would increasingly come from "independent actors in their homelands".
"Anytime a terrorist organisation calls for an attack on a specific place, we've got to take that seriously," he said.
In the video, a man with a British-sounding accent and full face covering calls on supporters of al-Shabab to attack "American or Jewish-owned" Western shopping centres.
He specifically mentions Minnesota's Mall of America - the US's second-largest shopping centre - and Canada's West Edmonton Mall, as well as London's Oxford Street and the UK capital's two Westfield shopping centres.
Co-ordinates for the various targets were listed on the screen as they were described.
BBC News - US security chief warns shoppers after terror threat
Do you realize that it's a price for all the conflicts America provoked in the Middle East? Terrorism is a desease we have brought from Iraq or Syria. The US homeland security is an useless organization which must protect people not threaten'em or warn. We are already too worried about our lives?
Jeh Johnson said he took the threat by the Somalia-based, al Qaeda-affiliated group al-Shabab seriously.
In a video, the group urged followers to carry out attacks on shopping centres in the US, Canada and the UK.
Al-Shabab was responsible for the 2013 attack on Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi that killed 67 people.
Mr Johnson told CNN that the threat was part of "a new phase" of terrorism in which attacks would increasingly come from "independent actors in their homelands".
"Anytime a terrorist organisation calls for an attack on a specific place, we've got to take that seriously," he said.
In the video, a man with a British-sounding accent and full face covering calls on supporters of al-Shabab to attack "American or Jewish-owned" Western shopping centres.
He specifically mentions Minnesota's Mall of America - the US's second-largest shopping centre - and Canada's West Edmonton Mall, as well as London's Oxford Street and the UK capital's two Westfield shopping centres.
Co-ordinates for the various targets were listed on the screen as they were described.
BBC News - US security chief warns shoppers after terror threat
Do you realize that it's a price for all the conflicts America provoked in the Middle East? Terrorism is a desease we have brought from Iraq or Syria. The US homeland security is an useless organization which must protect people not threaten'em or warn. We are already too worried about our lives?