On 25 August 2021, a gunman opened fire at two locations in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.[1] He initially killed two police officers at an intersection and stole the officers' rifles. He walked several hundred metres to the French embassy, where he killed another officer and a security guard.[1] The gunman also injured six other people, before being shot dead by police.[1] The attack occurred during the day on Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road, one of Dar es Salaam's main avenues in the diplomatic quarter.[2][3][4][5]
| Dar es Salaam shooting | |
|---|---|
| Location | Dar es Salaam, Tanzania |
| Date | 25 August 2021 |
Attack type | Spree shooting |
| Weapons | Rifle |
| Deaths | 5 (including the perpetrator) |
| Injured | 9 |
| Perpetrator | Hamza Mohamed |
| Motive | Islamic extremism |
Background to the massacre
editOn 2 September 2021, authorities confirmed that the attacker, identified as Hamza Mohamed, was motivated by Islamic extremism.[6] Prior to the shooting, he visited social media pages related to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.[7] Simon Sirro, the chief police inspector in charge of the investigation, said the attack was probably motivated by the Tanzanian government's fight against Islamic terrorists in Mozambique.[8] Such attacks were relatively rare in Tanzania, although there have been Islamist attacks in the past, including the killing of police officers and civil servants in the eastern district of Kibiti in 2016 and 2017.
Commemoration
editIn Dar es Salaam, on the eve of the attack, dozens of Tanzanian police officers, politicians and citizens gathered to pay tribute to the victims.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b c Tanzania: Gunman kills 4 near French embassy
- ^ a b "En Tanzanie, l'attaque de Dar es-Salaam a été menée par un « terroriste » islamiste". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2021-09-03. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ^ Malanga, Alex; Mirondo, Rosemary; Lamtey, Gadiosa; Maricha, Julius; Mbaga, Catherine; Mwaisenya, Mary (2021-07-27). "Hamza the gunman unmasked". The Citizen. Archived from the original on 2021-08-27.
- ^ Muhame, Giles (2021-08-25). "Video: Tanzania French Embassy Attacker a Somali National". ChimpReports. Archived from the original on 2021-08-26.
- ^ Kombe, Charles (2021-09-02). "Tanzanian Police: Gunman Who Killed 4 Last Week Was 'Terrorist'". Voice of America.
- ^ "Tanzania says gunman who killed four people last month was a terrorist". Reuters. 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Tanzania: Gunman who killed four people last month was a terrorist". AfricaNews. 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Tanzania shooting: Gunman kills four in diplomatic quarter of Dar es Salaam". Sky News. Retrieved 2022-03-04.