FILE – In this Tuesday, Oct . 7, 2014 file photo, Iraqi security forces hold a flag of the Islamic State group they captured during an operation outside Amirli, some 105 miles (170 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq. The Islamic State group may be sprouting tentacles across the region but it is struggling in Syria, part of its heartland, where it has stalled or even lost ground in fighting with multiple enemies on multiple fronts. There are signs of tensions and powers struggles emerging among its ranks of foreign jihadis. (AP Photo, File)

Johannesburg – The whole world, including South Africa, is at risk of terrorist attacks, a senior researcher from the Institute for Security Studies said on Monday.

“The Islamic State declaring its intention to attack western interests in any part of the world makes any country, including South Africa… vulnerable,” Martin Ewi told News24.

There were a number of western interests in South Africa and in Africa as a whole.

“There could be an attack [in South Africa] because we harbour elements that are incompatible with these Islamic groups.”

However the country had good policies which minimised the threat and made sure South Africa did not infuriate Muslims or isolate the Muslim community, Ewi said.

For more http://www.news24.com