Islamist group suggests attacks on shopping malls
Westfield have responded to a report that a Somalia-based insurgent group has posted a video on the internet suggesting attacks on shopping malls mentioning “the 100 or so Jewish-owned Westfield shopping centres dotted around the Western world.”
The group, known as Shebab, posted a documentary type video of the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi which claimed the lives of 67 people.
At the end of the clip a masked militant suggests that copycat attacks could take place in other parts of the world, mentioning Westfield”.
A spokesperson Scentre Group which operates the shopping centre giant said: “There is no evidence of an imminent threat to our shopping centres but as always Scentre Group will take every available step to keep our shopping centres safe for staff, retailers and customers.
Scentre Group’s policy is to not publicly discuss security procedures, however our heads of security continue to coordinate their activities with police and government agencies.
As usual, significant resources continue to be devoted to security arrangements in our offices and shopping centres and they continue to operate as normal.”
Westfield operates in the UK, USA and New Zealand as well as Australia. The video did not specify Australia, New Zealand or any of their malls as a possible target.
