Several people got injured on Wednesday in Saudi city of Jiddah when an explosive device hit a cemetery during an international ceremony commemorating the end of World War I, French government officials reports.
The ceremony at the historic cemetery for non-Muslim dead, had representatives of different countries. The identities of the victims of the explosion are not clear yet.
Wednesday’s attack follows a stabbing incident on Oct. 29 that slightly wounded a guard at the French Consulate in Jiddah. The stabbing was carried out by a Saudi man, who was arrested. His motives remain unclear.
French nationals have suffered two deadly attacks by foreign-born Muslims in the past month. A teacher was beheaded outside Paris for showing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to his class for a debate on free expression, and three people were later killed in a church in the southern city of Nice.
The depictions of the prophet sparked protests and calls for boycotts of French products among some Muslims in the Middle East and South Asia.
France has urged its citizens in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim-majority countries to be “on maximum alert” amid the heightened tensions.
Wednesday marks the 102nd anniversary of the armistice ending World War I and is commemorated in several European countries. The French officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, condemned the attack.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion and Saudi officials have not commented on the attack.
A few hours later, Saudi state television broadcast from outside the cemetery and acknowledged that an attack involving an explosive device took place, but stressed that things were under control and the security situation was now “stable.” The report said an official statement about the cause and casualty details was sketchy.
Jiddah, the Red Sea port city, saw its Ottoman troops surrender to the local troops backed by the British in 1916 amid the war. That sparked the start of the Kingdom of Hejaz, which later became part of Saudi Arabia in 1932.
Jiddah’s Non-Muslim Cemetery sits nears this port city’s docks, hidden behind trees alongside a major thoroughfare in the city. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission shows just one soldier buried at the cemetery, Pvt. John Arthur Hogan, who died in June 1944.
