Hollande condemns attack on French nationals in Yemen
France has condemned as “cowardly” an attack in Yemen’s capital Sana’a on Monday afternoon that left one French national dead.
A Yemeni and another French national were also wounded in the shooting, Reuters reported.
French President Francois Hollande issued a statement declaring that France, in cooperation with Yemen, would use “all state powers” to identify those responsible as soon as possible.
France’s foreign minister announced that the man who died were “on mission” for the European delegation.
Meanwhile, Yemeni military sources cited in local news outlets described the incident as an attack on private security guards protecting the French embassy in Sanaa.
Stay informed with MEE's newsletters
Sign up to get the latest alerts, insights and analysis, starting with Turkey Unpacked
This attack is the latest in a recent spate of incidents targeting foreign institutions in Yemen.
On 30 April, the Interior Ministry announced that it had arrested militants planning to abduct a diplomat from the UAE, while a German official was injured in an apparent kidnapping attempt on 29 April.
A day after the attack, there is speculation that the attack could be leading to a withdrawal of Western diplomats, as happened in August 2013 amid US reports of "extremely high" threat levels.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
