The United States is to boost security at government buildings following threats from Islamist groups.
The “precise actions” and “precise locations” were not specified in the statement by Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, who said they would vary, shift and “be continually reevaluated.”
“The reasons for this action are self-evident,” Johnson said, citing “continued public calls by terrorist organizations for attacks on the homeland and elsewhere,” the AFP reported.
Johnson called it “a precautionary step, to safeguard US government personnel and facilities, and the visitors to those facilities” in the capital and other major cities, as well as other locations around the country.
On Thursday, in an attack branded a “terrorist act” by police, an assailant charged officers with a hatchet in a busy shopping area of New York City, striking two before he was shot dead by the two other officers, who were uninjured.
Police said the attacker had looked at websites about groups such as Al-Qaeda and IS.
Canada Mourning
Meanwhile, thousands of mourners lined the streets of the Canadian city of Hamilton for the funeral procession of a soldier killed last week in an attack in the nation’s capital, the AFP reported.
The soldier was fatally shot last in Ottawa. His attacker, then stormed into parliament and exchanged fire with police before being shot dead.
The attack was one of two targeting Canadian soldiers just days apart. Another soldier, Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, was killed on October 20 in a hit and run east of Montreal. He will be laid to rest on Saturday.
Both attacks came as Canada deployed fighter jets to join US-led air strikes on the IS group in Iraq.
