Comoros President Azali Assoumani was "slightly wounded" in a knife attack Friday, September 13, the presidency said, adding that the attacker had been arrested.
"The President of the Republic Azali Assoumani was slightly wounded by a knife while attending the funeral" of a well-known religious leader, it said in a statement. "His injuries are not serious, and he has returned home. The attacker is in the hands of the security services," it added.
Government spokeswoman Fatima Ahamadael told Agence France-Presse that the attack happened in Salimani-Itsandra, an area on the outskirts of the capital Moroni. "Thank God, his life is not in danger," she said, declining to give details on the attacker's identity.
Government minister Aboubacar Said Anli said Saturday that a civilian was also injured during the attack while attempting to protect the president.
Witnesses told AFP that the attacker was a 22-year-old with no criminal history, who had joined the army in 2022. He was dressed in a boubou, and was in the room with the religious leader's body, as mourners were paying respects, they said. The knife injured the president's hand, but the attacker was stopped by another mourner, the witnesses said.
Assoumani was re-elected as president of Comoros in January in a vote denounced by opposition parties as fraudulent. At least one person died in unrest following the election. Assoumani, 65, is a former military leader who first came to power in Comoros in a coup in 1999.
The country, which is made up of an archipelago of islands off the east coast of Africa, has experienced more than a dozen coups or attempted coups since its independence from France in 1975.