A device discovered in a mosque near Durban where worshippers were attacked by armed men last week was confirmed as explosive, police said.
The device was discovered on Sunday three days after an attack at the mosque by three men armed with guns and knives. One person was killed and two others injured.
“We had a meeting with the explosive unit members who briefed us on the device they took away. They confirmed its mechanism is explosive,” Simphiwe Mhlongo, a spokesman for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation told eNCA television.
“At this stage they haven’t gone through analysing what chemicals it is made of.”
Mhlongo said investigations were continuing.
South Africa is racked by violent crime and social strife rooted in poverty and glaring income disparities, but it is seldom associated with Islamist militancy seen elsewhere on the continent.
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