Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed the attack in Nouakchott

Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (Aqmi) claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on 8 August against the French embassy in Nouakchott, reported Tuesday the U.S. central monitoring Islamist websites (SITE).

•     The claim is accompanied, according to the SITE, by a photograph of the bomber, identified as Mussa Abu Obeida al-Basri, who lived in the Basra area in the capital of Mauritania.
  
      The photograph shows a man wearing the traditional dress of Mauritania and brandishing a weapon in the desert.
  
      The author of the attack has died in the explosion of the load he was carrying and that has only slightly injured two French, two policemen attached to the protection of Chancery but that were not on duty at the time of the attack, and a Mauritanian woman.
  
      The Islamist website that bears the claim states, according to the American centre, the author of the attack had joined Al Qaeda a year ago and had expressed the desire to become a "martyr."
  
      The Aqim states, according to the SITE, that the attack was a response to attacks by "Crusaders", especially France, and Mauritanian leaders against Islam and Muslims.
  
      The group acknowledged that the attacker had failed to enter the embassy because of the presence of a barrier, but said that the explosion had injured several French guards.
  
      After the attack, the Mauritanian Minister of Interior of the time, Mohamed Ould R'Zeizim, indicated that the bomber was a Mauritanian "recruited by the Salafi" and was trained in the camps "located in the Sahara.
  
      
  Ennaharonline/ M. O.