The president of Comoros is ‘a little bit injured’ in a knife attack

The president of the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros was “slightly injured” in a knife attack whereas attending the funeral of a spiritual leader on Friday, his office said. One varied person was also harm trying to defend him, authorities said.

President Azali Assoumani’s injuries weren’t critical and he had returned to his residence, his office said in a statement. It said the attacker was arrested by security forces and is in their custody, nonetheless gave no details on the attacker’s identification or any more information on the circumstances of the attack.

The attack happened in town of Salimani on the outskirts of the capital Moroni.

Govt minister Aboubacar Said Anli said Saturday that a civilian was injured during the attack whereas attempting to defend the president. There was no immediate information on the extent of the injuries sustained by the civilian.

Assoumani was reelected as president of Comoros in January in a vote denounced by opposition parties as fraudulent. At least one person died in unrest following the election.

Assoumani, 65, is a aged military officer who first came to energy in Comoros in a coup in 1999. He served a first term as president from 2002 – 2006 and was elected again in 2016.

He has been the leader since and prolonged his presidency into a fourth term this year after changing the constitution to eliminate term limits and abolishing a procedure that saw the presidency rotated between Comoros’ three main islands. He has been accused of cracking down on dissent and banning peaceful protests.

The nation, which is made up of an archipelago of islands off the east coast of Africa, has experienced more than a dozen coups or attempted coups since its independence from France in 1975.