Manama: Four people have been injured in a bomb attack at a Remembrance Day ceremony attended by foreign diplomats in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
The bomb blast happened on Wednesday morning at a ceremony marking the end of World War I Armistice Agreement, the France’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. A number of consuls-general, including the French consul, were attended the ceremony, the statement added.
Saudi authorities confirmed that a Greek consulate employee and a Saudi security officer had been hurt.
The BBC reported that one British person also suffered minor injuries.
Following the attack, Saudi security authorities cordoned off the area and banned entry.
Media spokesman for the governorate of Mecca, Sultan Al Dosari described the attack on the ceremony as "cowardly" and said security forces had launched an investigation.
The embassies of France, Greece, Italy, the UK and the US strongly condemned the attack in a joined statement saying “any attack that targets innocents is shameful and unjustified. We wish a swift recovery for the injured and our gratitude to the brave Saudis who rushed to provide help when the attack took place,”
French foreign ministry described the attack as cowardly and unjustifiable. Foreign ministry called on Saudi authorities to shed more light as they can on this attack, and to identify and hunt down the perpetrators, the statement added.
A Greek diplomatic official told Reuters news agency that four people were slightly injured by the blast, one of them Greek.
