The president of Comoros, an Indian Ocean island nation, was “slightly injured” during a knife attack at a funeral for a religious leader on Friday, according to his office. Another individual was also hurt while attempting to shield the president, officials reported.
President Azali Assoumani’s injuries were minor and he returned to his residence soon after, his office stated. The attacker was apprehended by security forces and is currently in custody. No further details were provided about the attacker’s identity or the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The attack took place in Salimani, a town near the capital, Moroni.
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On Saturday, government minister Aboubacar Said Anli confirmed that a civilian had been injured while trying to protect the president, though details on the severity of the civilian’s injuries were not immediately available.
Assoumani, 65, was re-elected in January in a vote condemned by opposition parties as fraudulent, sparking unrest that led to at least one death. A former military officer, Assoumani first came to power through a coup in 1999. After serving as president from 2002 to 2006, he was re-elected in 2016 and has remained in office since, extending his tenure into a fourth term after changing the constitution to eliminate term limits. His presidency has been marked by accusations of stifling dissent and banning peaceful protests.
Comoros, an archipelago off the eastern coast of Africa, has faced political instability, with over a dozen coups or coup attempts since gaining independence from France in 1975.
