Attacker in Gabon stabs Dutch reporters, calling it revenge for U.S. Jerusalem decision

JTA

(JTA) — An attacker from Niger wounded two reporters for the National Geographic channel at a market in Gabon, saying it was a revenge attack against the United States for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The attacker, 53, who has lived in Gabon for the last 20 years, according to Reuters, shouted Allahu Akbar, Arabic for God is Great, before stabbing the two Danish journalists at the market popular with tourists in the capital of Libreville, on Saturday.

On Sunday, police in Gabon arrested dozens of people in connection with the attack. The detained men were mostly traders and sellers from the market, the French news agency AFP reported. The arrested men mostly are from west Africa, according to the report.

The market was shut down after the attack and did not reopen on Sunday.

Gabon’s Defense Minister Etienne Massard said Saturday that the attacker “acted in retaliation for U.S. attacks against Muslims and America’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.”

The attack as of Sunday afternoon still had not been classified as terror, however.

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