Comoros President Azali Assoumani is ‘out of danger’ following a knife attack on Friday by a 24-year-old police officer, who was later found dead in his cell, officials reported on Saturday.
The assault took place at around 2pm local time in Salimani Itsandra, a town just north of Moroni, the capital of Comoros. President Assoumani was attending a funeral when he was attacked.
‘The president is in good health and no longer in danger. He only required a few stitches,’ Energy Minister Aboubacar Saïd Anli confirmed during a press conference in Moroni on Saturday.
The attacker, identified as Ahmed Abdou, had reportedly been on leave since Wednesday before carrying out the assault. He was taken into custody but was discovered dead in his cell the next morning. ‘When investigators arrived, they found his lifeless body on the ground,’ Public Prosecutor Ali Mohamed Djounaid announced at a separate press conference. The cause of his death is currently under investigation.
Authorities are still trying to determine Abdou’s motive for the attack on President Assoumani, who was sworn in for a fourth term in May after a contentious election earlier in the year. Opposition groups have alleged voter fraud, claims the government firmly denies.
The investigation into both the knife attack and Abdou’s death is ongoing.
