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Greek Man Slightly Injured in Saudi Arabia Terror Attack on Veteran’s Day

Aftermath of the attack in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Credit: Clarence Rodriguez/Twitter

Four individuals — including one Greek security officer — have been injured in a grenade attack in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia after a hand grenade was thrown at people taking part in a Veteran’s Day service for British and French citizens of the city on Wednesday.

The blast took place at a non-Muslim cemetery during a ceremony as officials and permanent residents of Saudi Arabia gathered to mark Remembrance Day, or Veteran’s Day, which commemorates the end of World War I.

Britain’s Daily Mail reported that both Greek and French officials were present at the ceremony and one of the two individuals, who was slightly injured, is Greek.

Greek media reports say that he is a 27-year-old police officer serving as security for the Greek consulate in Jeddah.

“The annual ceremony commemorating the end of World War I at the non-Muslim cemetery in Jeddah, attended by several consulates, including that of France, was the target of an IED (improvised explosive device) attack this morning, which injured several people,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“France strongly condemns this cowardly, unjustifiable attack.”

France has been on a greatly-heightened terrorism alert since the beheadings of two citizens in the country, the first of a teacher who was discussing freedom of speech, and the second, a woman who was worshipping at a cathedral in Lyon.

After those disturbing incidents, the Foreign Ministry had issued a blanket warning to citizens abroad, saying, “In particular, exercise discretion and stay away from all gatherings and be cautious when moving around.” The warning was circulated to all French residents who live in Jeddah.

Saudi officials have not commented on the attack and the Saudi state-run media has not run any reports of the incident.

Le Figaro stated in its report that more than one perpetrator threw the grenade over a wall during the solemn ceremony attended by British and French citizens, which marks the end of the “War to end all Wars.”

Reports say that both Saudi and Greek security forces were injured. Le Figaro also stated that one suspect was arrested at the ceremony, which had been attended by the  Consuls General od France, Great Britain and Italy, along with the military attaches from the French and British Embassies.

Just two weeks ago there was a knife attack at the French consulate in the city, injuring one guard. One suspect in that attack was arrested by the authorities.

This is a developing story.

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