JOHANNESBURG (sacbee.com) – South Africa’s elite police unit says it’s investigating an “element of extremism” in a mosque attack in which three people’s throats were slit after midday prayers, killing one of them.
Hawks spokesman Simphiwe Mhlongo told The Associated Press that “you can see elements of hatred to a certain religion” in Thursday’s attack in the mosque’s worship space.
But Mhlongo says police can’t yet say whether the assault on the Imam Hussein mosque in the eastern town of Verulam, just north of Durban, can be called a terror attack.
He says police can’t confirm reports that the three attackers were Egyptian. They are still at large.
In this photo supplied by the South African Police Services, paramedics attend to an injured man after attackers entered a mosque in Verulam, Durban, South Africa, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Attackers entered a South African mosque after midday prayers, stabbed three people and set the place on fire before fleeing, local police said Thursday, as people expressed shock at the kind of attack rarely seen in the country. One of the victims later died, an emergency responder told local media. (South African Police Services via AP)
