(Moroni) The President of the Comoros, Azali Assoumani, “was slightly injured with a knife” on Friday, announced the presidency of this small, poor archipelago in the Indian Ocean with a history marked by coups d’état, without mentioning the motive for the attack.
“His injuries are not serious and he has returned home,” the presidency said in a statement, indicating that the attack took place during the “funeral of a great sheikh (notable) of the country.”
“The attacker is in the hands of the security services,” according to the statement, which did not contain any other details, whether on the circumstances of the attack, the identity or the motive of the perpetrator.
A source close to the presidency who requested anonymity told AFP that the latter was a young “active gendarme”, recruited in 2022.
Comorian government spokeswoman Fatima Ahamada told AFP that the “attack” took place in Salimani-Itsandra, a small town bordering Moroni, on the heights of the archipelago’s capital. “Thank God his life is not in danger,” she added of the president.
In Salimani-Istandra, witnesses told AFP that the perpetrator of the attack was a young man from the commune aged 22, described as having no history and having joined the army two years ago.
According to these witnesses, he was in the room where the body of the deceased sheikh was displayed when he attacked President Azali. Someone intervened and was injured in the hand, according to these witnesses.
No further details were immediately available.
Azali Assoumani, 65, a former army chief of staff who came to power in a military coup, was re-elected president in January in a disputed vote followed by two days of deadly protests.
His critics accuse him of growing authoritarianism in the three-island archipelago in the Mozambique Channel, which has a population of some 870,000.
Mr Azali, elected in 2002 and handed over power in 2006 before being re-elected in 2016, appointed his son Nour El Fath Azali, 40, as secretary general of the government in July.
In August a presidential decree submitted all decrees issued by ministers and governors of each island to the approval of the Secretary General of the Government.
Some critics believe that this measure makes Mr Azali’s son the de facto prime minister, in a country where the President of the Republic combines the roles of head of state and head of government.
Azali Assoumani held the rotating presidency of the African Union (AU) between January 2023 and February 2024, a first for a small country and an island state.