A gunman kills four in attack near the French embassy in Tanzania

DAR ES SALAAM, Aug 25 (Reuters) – A gunman killed three police officers and a private security guard on Wednesday through a diplomatic district in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s main city, before being killed shot while buried in a guardhouse at the French Embassy Gate.

Videos on the Internet, apparently filmed by viewers of buildings on the French embassy street, showed the gunman inside the guard. He exchanged fire at close range with police and men who appeared to be embassy guards.

Police said the attacker had first shot two police officers with a handgun at an intersection in the district, which houses several diplomatic missions. He grabbed rifles from the fallen police officers and walked to the French embassy a few hundred yards away, firing at random and occupying the guard house.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan said on Twitter that the assailant had been “neutralized” and that “calm has returned.”

“I send my condolences to the police service and the families of three policemen, and an agent of the security company SGA, who lost their lives after an armed person attacked them in the Salenda area of ​​Dar es Salaam,” he said. dir Hassan.

Six people were injured, in addition to the four who died, police operations and training commissioner Liberatus Sabas said in a tweet shared on behalf of the Tanzania Police.

Inspector General of Police Simon Sirro said in an interview broadcast on local television that police were trying to identify the assailant. Although the reason is not yet known, Sirro suggested that the attack could be related to Tanzania’s role in neighboring Mozambique, where he sent troops this month to help fight Islamist insurgents as part of a force. regional security.

“There are problems, our soldiers are there,” Sirro said of Mozambique.

Police chief Sabas told reporters it was too early to tell if the army was a Tanzanian national or if it had links to terrorism.

Tanzanian television aired footage showing police officers in bulletproof vests appearing to wrap a dead body outside the embassy with white material to remove it from the scene.

SGA Security, which is described as a major security service provider in East Africa, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The French embassy in Dar es Salaam could not be contacted immediately and French foreign ministry officials in Paris were not available.

Report by Nuzulack Dausen, Ayenat Mersie and Joe Bavier Written by Duncan Miriri and Maggie Fick Edited by Peter Graff

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