Tanzania: deadly shooting in front of the French embassy in Dar es Salaam
Security forces are preparing to evacuate the body of the assailant in front of the French embassy in Dar es Salaam on August 25, 2021. REUTERS - STRINGER
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3 min
Three police officers and a private security agent were killed this Wednesday, August 25, 2021 in Dar es Salaam, the economic capital of Tanzania, during a shooting that took place in a street housing several foreign representations.
The attacker was shot dead by the police in front of the French embassy.
His identity and motivations are still unknown.
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The Tanzanian authorities assured Wednesday evening that it was too early to conclude that it was terrorism, and that they were still investigating the shooter's motives. The
pictures
broadcast by local media showed a man walking on a sidewalk, wearing a plaid shirt and a kufi, Muslim prayer cap, white, an automatic rifle in hand. We then see him in front of the entrance to the French Embassy, where he comes under fire from the Tanzanian police.
BREAKING: #US embassy in #Tanzania issues a security alert as gunfire heard near the #French embassy in Dar es Salaam.
Police shot down a gun-wielding assailant who was on a shooting spree roaming the Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road from the Selinda Bridge area, per @TheCitizenTZ pic.twitter.com/6s24JPbfJc
- GAROWE ONLINE (@GaroweOnline) August 25, 2021
Appraisal: three police officers dead, a security guard as well.
The chief of police operations, Liberatus Sabas, adds that six people were also injured.
It is not known whether the killed agent was part of the French embassy team.
Ali Hassan Mwinyi Street, where the shooting took place, also houses the premises of the diplomatic missions of Russia and Zambia.
On Twitter, the president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, expresses her condolences to the families and calls for a thorough investigation.
Natoa pole kwa Jeshi la Polisi na familia za Askari 3, na Askari 1 wa kampuni ya ulinzi ya SGA waliopoteza maisha baada ya mtu aliyekuwa na silaha kuwashambulia katika eneo la Salenda, Dar es Salaam.
Mtu huyo amedhibitiwa na hali ni shwari.
Nawaagiza Polisi kuchunguza kwa kina.
- Samia Suluhu (@SuluhuSamia) August 25, 2021
The opposition Alliance for Change and Transparency party has also called for investigations to see if there are "
more important implications
", according to its leader Zitto Kabwe.
For several years, Tanzania has faced two distinct jihadist threats: that of the
al-Shabab group
, based in Somalia and affiliated with al-Qaeda, and more recently that of the Islamists affiliated with the Islamic State organization of
Cabo Delgado
, a region from northern Mozambique, bordering Tanzania.
In Nairobi transiting to Dar from Lusaka and I get into the shocking news of the shoot out that happened today.
My thoughts are immediately with the two police officers who lost their lives, and my condolences go to their families and loved ones.
They will not be forgotten.
- Zitto MwamiRuyagwa Kabwe (@zittokabwe) August 25, 2021
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