Comoros President Azali Assoumani injured in stabbing attack

A spokeswoman said his life was not in danger

Comoros' President Azali Assoumani was stabbed on Friday. AFP

The President of the Comoros was wounded in a stabbing attack on Friday, but is only slightly injured, a government spokeswoman said.

Azali Assoumani's attacker was in custody, Fatima Ahamadael said.

"The head of state was victim of an attack in Salimani-Itsandra," an area on the outskirts of the capital Moroni, government spokeswoman Fatima Ahamadael told AFP. "Thank God, his life is not in danger."

Mr Assoumani was taken to a military hospital, where he is receiving treatment, local media reported.

The president of the East African nation, made up of three islands which gained independence from France in 1975, visited Abu Dhabi in September 2023, meeting President Sheikh Mohamed. The UAE has been a donor to Comoros since 1979, investing more than Dh430 million in support.

Mr Assoumali became the islands' first elected president in 2002 as a result of a deal between the three islands of Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Moheli to rotate the presidency on a five-yearly basis. He was elected again in 2016 and in once more in 2019 after a referendum the year before removed the power-sharing agreement and extended presidential terms.