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The South Africa Police have uncovered bombs at the Imam Hussein mosque in the South African province of KwaZulu Natal.
The mosque located in Durban is incidentally the same facility that was attacked last week with assailants slitting the throats of worshippers gathered for the midday prayers including the chief imam who lost his life.
Although the police are yet to make any arrests, President Cyril Ramaphosa sent a Ramadan message to Muslims on Sunday.
“the President Ramaphosa’s thoughts particularly goes out to the Muslim community of Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal, who suffered violence and tragedy in a place of worship several days ago.
“The President expects that the perpetrators will be brought to book and that the community of Verulam will be able to experience Ramadan as the period of peace and goodwill it is meant to be,” a statement from the presidency read.
South Africa, one of the continent’s most industrialized countries has a large expatriate community and attracts many tourists but has seldom been associated with Islamist militancy.
Prem Balram, a spokesman for Reaction Unit SA, a private emergency service, who was among the first on the scene said that the motive of the attack was not clear but the three suspects, who fled in a white car, had been identified as Egyptian, he added.
A section of the mosque was set ablaze and smoke was billowing from the side of the building, Balram said. One of the attack victims jumped from a side window of the smoking building.
