Cape Town: South African security forces have reportedly foiled an Al-Qaida plot to carry out a terrorist attack during the 2010 football World Cup.
According to reports, South Africa's National Intelligence Agency, senior police forces and American agents jointly conducted the operation, during which they arrested militants linked to extremists in Somalia and Mozambique, who were hatching plans to carry out bomb attacks during the mega event.
The forces nabbed the militants after they intercepted a call made to the Al-Qaida-linked Al-Shabaab group in Somalia discussing setting off bombs. They also seized mobile phones and SIM cards from the suspects.
"The interception revealed that these people planned to move en masse from Mozambique to here in 2010," a newspaper quoted a source, as saying.
Police also claimed that the network has links with Al-Qaida's henchmen in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The World Cup will be the first to be held in Africa, and US President Barack Obama among many other leaders are expected to attend the opening ceremony in Johannesburg on June 11.
ANI
First Published: Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 18:20