Tanzania: Assailant kills 3 cops and security guard near French Embassy in Dodoma

President Samia Suluhu Hassan said an attacker carrying an assault weapon was shot dead after killing three police officers and a private security company employee near the French embassy in the Tanzanian economic city Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, August 25. On Twitter, Hassan stated that the attacker had been "neutralised" and that calm has restored.

Attacker kills 3 police in Tanzania 

"I send my condolences to the police service and the families of three policemen, and one officer of the SGA security company, who lost their lives after an armed person attacked them in the Salenda area of Dar es Salaam," Hassan said in a tweet.

The motive or objective of the perpetrator was not immediately revealed by the police. The gates of the French embassy in Dar es Salaam, a guy outside the gate, and the sounds of gunshots crackling were seen on video footage shared online, which could not be authenticated immediately. Police officers in bullet-proof jackets appeared to be wrapping a dead body outside the embassy in white material to remove it from the scene, according to reports.

Attacker neutralised

Police Inspector General Police were trying to identify the attacker in a short video broadcast by Millard Ayo, a Tanzanian news website, according to reports. The reasons for the gunman, he claimed, remained unknown. According to witnesses, officers on duty at the French mission and a neighbouring bank attempted to stop the gunman, who was saying that he wanted to kill police officers.

The incident happened barely a month after a pistol-wielding man, suspected of having psychological illness, killed his companion and then committed suicide in Sinza, a suburb on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam.

Similar events from Tanzania 

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has come under fire for making derogatory remarks about the country's female footballers, describing them as having "flat chests" and unsuitable for marriage. According to reports, Hassan made the statements while hosting Tanzania's under-23 men's football team at State House in Dar es Salaam. She is the country's first female president, at the age of 61. In a previous interview with the BBC, she even stated that people doubted her ability to become president because of her gender.

Picture Credit: PTI