Three people were wounded after an explosion at a Saudi Arabian cemetery during an Armistice Day ceremony organized by the French Embassy, numerous sources reported.
The attack took place during a ceremony commemorating the end of World War I that involved foreign embassies and multiple diplomatic delegations from the European Union, France’s Foreign Ministry said, according to Reuters.
Saudi-based journalist reports 15 people wounded in an attack this morning at the cemetery for non-Muslims in Jeddah, during a ceremony in which the Consul-General of France and French citizens were in attendance. https://t.co/9WziWyxyob
— Alison Meuse (@AliTahmizian) November 11, 2020
A U.K. national, a Greek policeman and a Saudi security officer were injured, per the Associated Press (AP).
“There was some sort of a blast at the non-Muslim cemetery in Jeddah. There are four slightly injured, among them one Greek,” a Greek official told Reuters.
The incident comes nearly two weeks weeks after a Saudi man was arrested in Saudi Arabia after attacking a guard at the French consulate in Jeddah with a knife. That attack at the consulate took place within hours of a terror attack in Nice, where a Tunisian migrant killed three people at a church.
Police also killed a man who was threatening a passerby with a gun in another French city, Montfavet, while yelling “Allahu akbar.” (RELATED: Attacker Screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ Decapitates One, Kills Two Others At French Church)
“The embassies that were involved in the commemoration ceremony condemn this cowardly attack, which is completely unjustified,” a French Foreign Ministry statement said, according to Reuters.
Women walk in a street in the Saudi city of Jeddah, on November 11, 2020. – A bomb blast struck a World War I commemoration attended by Western diplomats in the Saudi city today, leaving at least two people wounded in the second assault on diplomatic missions in recent weeks, officials said. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
“Such attacks on innocent people are shameful and entirely without justification,” a joint statement issued by the embassies of France, the U.K., Greece, Italy and the U.S. — all of whose officials were in attendance — reportedly said. The French consulate in Jeddah warned its nationals in Saudi Arabia to use “maximum vigilance” after the attack, according to Reuters.
“In particular, exercise discretion, stay away from all gatherings and be cautious when moving around,” read a statement emailed to French residents in Jeddah, per Reuters.
France has previously warned its citizens to be cautious when traveling in Muslim-majority countries and to avoid large gatherings or protests due to heightened safety concerns following a number of terror attacks in October.
Widespread protests have taken place across the Muslim world in response to the French government’s actions in response to the beheading of a French school teacher. The teacher was reportedly targeted after showing students the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published by the Charlie Hebdo satire magazine in 2015 during a lesson on freedom of speech. The suspected attacker, 18-year-old Chechen refugee Abdoullakh Aboutezidovitch, said he wanted to punish Paty for showing students the cartoons, according to Reuters.
TOPSHOT – People lights candle outside the Notre-Dame de l’Assomption Basilica in Nice on October 29, 2020 in tribute to the three victims of a knife attacker, cutting the throat of at least one woman, inside the church of the French Riviera city. (Photo by VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images)
France’s foreign ministry issued a safety warning in October for French citizens in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iraq and Mauritania, urging them to avoid any protests over the cartoon of Prophet Muhammad and avoid public gatherings.
“It is recommended to exercise the greatest vigilance, especially while traveling, and in places that are frequented by tourists or expatriate communities,” the warning read.