Five people were injured in an attack by unidentified gunmen
against Israel's embassy in the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott,
news reaching Dakar said Friday.
The attack occurred before dawn Friday, leaving five people
injured in the exchange of fire between a gang of armed men and the
embassy guards, local police said, adding the injured were people
living nearby.
Israeli Ambassador Boaz Bismut said he was woken up by the
gunshots and so were the embassy staff, adding none of them were
reported injured in the attack.
A bar near the embassy was also hit by the attack, the police
said.
The Mauritanian military immediately cordoned off the embassy
building after the attack.
The Mauritanian authorities made no immediate comment.
The attack came just weeks after the historic Dakar Rally was
cancelled due to fears of an armed Islamist threat in the West
African country.
Four French tourists and some soldiers were killed separately in
two attacks in late December.
(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2008)
