The attack left two lightly injured. Claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) Thursday, November 12, it occurred the day before at the non-Muslim cemetery in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during a ceremony for the anniversary of the armistice of November 11, 1918, in the presence of Western diplomats. In a statement on its propaganda channel on Telegram, ISIS claimed to have carried out the attack “in support” of the Prophet Muhammad.
“A detachment of caliphate soldiers succeeded in planting an explosive device in the cemetery […] in the city of Jeddah yesterday “Wednesday where several diplomats were gathered, says the statement. A Greek consular employee and a Saudi police officer were slightly injured, Saudi authorities said. A Briton was also reportedly injured, which has not been confirmed on the Saudi or British side.
According to Amaq, an IS propaganda agency, “the attack was aimed primarily at the French consul who attended the ceremony in the context of his country’s government’s insistence on publishing caricatures insulting the prophet.”
The impact of publishing Muhammad cartoons
In a joint statement, the consulates represented at the ceremony on Wednesday “strongly condemned this cowardly attack on innocent people.” These are the consulates of France, Greece, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. This attack came two weeks after a knife attack that injured a guard at the French consulate in Jeddah, amid the anger of Muslims over the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad by a Parisian newspaper.
Comments by French President Emmanuel Macron on the right to cartoon in the name of freedom of expression have sparked anger in the Middle East, and more broadly in the Muslim world. In some Muslim countries, portraits of the French president have been burnt during protests and a campaign has been launched to boycott French products.
On Tuesday, France, Austria, Germany and the European Union (EU) held a mini-summit by videoconference to try to strengthen the European response to terrorism, after the recent jihadist attacks in France and Austria.
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