Former Maldives president Nasheed has been wounded in connection with a bomb attack Stories from the Maldives

KUSWA

Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed rushed to hospital after the explosion.

Former Maldives president and current parliamentary speaker Mohamed Nasheed was injured in an explosion outside his family on Thursday, police said.

“Following the explosion … President of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed has been injured and is currently receiving treatment at ADK Hospital,” he said on Thursday.

There were no details of the injuries that Nasheed suffered. One of his bodyguards also went to the hospital.

Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid has strongly condemned the attack.

In a statement on Twitter he said: “Such fears have no place in our country. My thoughts and prayers are with President Nasheed and other victims of this tragedy, as well as their families.”

The blast came on Thursday when Nasheed, 53, was entering his car in Male City, an employee of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), he told AFP by telephone.

“It looks like an explosive device, possibly connected to a parked motorcycle,” the official said, adding that an investigation was underway.

Male residents say the explosion was heard throughout the capital.

Nasheed became the speaker of parliament, the second most powerful post in the Indian Ocean, following the victory of the party in April 2019.

He became the country’s first democratically elected president after winning the first multi-party elections in 2008. He was ousted from the polls in 2012 and could not run in the 2018 elections after being found guilty by a jury.

However, he returned to his homeland from his own country where his party won the 2018 Presidential election and entered parliament.

More to follow.