Male:
A suspected bomb blast injured former Maldives president and present parliament speaker Mohamed Nasheed on Thursday and he has been rushed to hospital, officials and residents stated.
The explosion went off as Nasheed, 53, was having into his auto in the capital Male, an official from his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), told AFP by phone.
“It looks like some sort of an improvised explosive device, possibly rigged up to a parked motorcycle,” the official stated adding that an investigation was below way.
There have been no particulars of the injuries suffered by Nasheed. At least one of his bodyguards was also taken to hospital.
Residents in Male stated the blast was heard across the capital.
Nasheed became parliament speaker, the Indian Ocean nation’s second most highly effective position, following his party’s landslide victory in elections in April 2019.
He became the country’s initial democratically elected president following winning the initial multi-party elections in 2008. He was toppled in a coup in 2012 and was unable to contest the 2018 presidential elections following he was convicted of criminal charges.
However, he returned to the nation from self-imposed exile following his party won the 2018 presidential elections and then entered parliament.
Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid strongly condemned the attack.
In a statement on Twitter he stated: “Cowardly attacks like these have no place in our society. My thoughts and prayers are with President Nasheed and others injured in this attack, as well as their families.”
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