Mauritania: Shooting may not have been against embassy
Security forces arrest three young men suspected of involvement in shooting against Israeli embassy on Friday. Mauritanian security forces estimate target of attack may have been restaurant near embassy
Mauritanian security forces have arrested three young men suspected of being involved in the shooting attack against Israel's embassy in the capital city of Nouakchott on Friday, the al-Jazeera news channel reported.
Defense officials in Mauritania estimated however that the target of the attack had not been the embassy but rather a restaurant adjacent to it, regularly filled with Western patrons.
According to the officials the information obtained so far does not point to the embassy as being the target. "And proof of this is that none of the assailants pointed his weapon towards it at first, but rather only when the embassy guards opened fire at them," said the sources.
Additional evidence supporting this theory, they said, was the fact that none of the casualties had been from the embassy, but rather only the restaurant.
An Israeli diplomatic source speaking with Ynet on Friday evening also suggested that the restaurant may well have been one of the targets.
However the Mauritanian government would not identify the target of the attack, saying only that unknown persons had opened fire towards the Israeli embassy.
