President of Comoros suffers minor injuries following a knife attack, as security forces quickly respond to the incident. An investigation is underway.
The head of state for Comoros, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, sustained minor injuries from a stabbing incident that occurred during his presence at a religious leader’s funeral on Friday. In addition to him, one person was injured while attempting to shield him as well according to officials.
According to a statement from his office, President Azali Assoumani has been released and returned home after suffering minor injuries. The attacker responsible for the incident has been taken into custody by security forces; however, no additional information regarding their identity or motive was provided.
The assault occurred in Salimani, a neighborhood bordering the capital city of Moroni.
On Saturday, Aboubacar Said Anli, a minister of the government announced that whilst trying to shield the president from harm during the assault, an ordinary citizen got hurt. No details have yet been released about how severe their injuries are.
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In January, Assoumani secured his reelection as the President of Comoros through a disputed vote that was criticized by opposing parties for being fraudulent. The aftermath saw unrest which resulted in at least one fatality.
At 65 years of age, Assoumani formerly served as a military officer and initially gained control in Comoros through a coup back in 1999. After serving his initial term from 2002 to 2006, he was elected once again for presidency during the year of 2016.
He has held onto his leadership position for a considerable amount of time, and recently extended it by achieving a fourth term through the alteration of constitutional laws that eliminated term limits. Additionally, he abolished the system established to rotate presidency between Comoros’ three primary islands. Despite these actions, there have been allegations made against him regarding his suppression of opposing opinions and disallowance of peaceful demonstrations.
Since gaining independence from France in 1975, the archipelago nation off the east coast of Africa has suffered over a dozen coups or coup attempts.
