Britain warns of IS attacks in South Africa after couple's kidnapped

Britain has warned of a threat of attacks by Islamists on foreigners in South Africa after two British nationals were kidnapped in a small town there.

The couple, a 74-year-old man who moved from Britain to South Africa in the 1970s and his South African-born wife, 63 and both have British and South African nationalities were kidnapped in the small town of Vryheid in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province on Monday February 12.

The couple are still missing at this stage while no ransom has been demanded.

A South Africa's police spokesman said two suspects had been arrested in connection with the kidnapping but say they have no evidence militants were behind the incident.

According to Britain‘s Foreign Office (FCO) on its website the main threat was from Islamic State.

Reuters said it received an email from the FCO on Thursday, stating that:

We have updated our travel advice to include this recent incident”, referring to the kidnapping.

Our travel advice already states that terrorists are likely to try to carry out attacks in South Africa. This remains our assessment.

The FCO said terrorists were likely to try to carry out attacks in shopping areas in major cities and said news reports suggest that a number of South African nationals had travelled to Syria, Iraq and Libya and were likely to pose a security threat on their return.

In 2016, the US and Britain made similar warning but no attack followed.

South Africa, Africa’s most industrialised country has a large expatriate community and attracts many tourists, and has seldom been associated with Islamist militancy. 
 
Security officials and experts say there are no known Islamist militant groups operating in South Africa, where Muslims make up less than two percent of the population.