![Saudi police close a street leading to a non-Muslim cemetery in the Saudi city of Jeddah where a blast struck a World War I commemoration attended by European diplomats on 11 November 2020 [AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jeddah-attack.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Several people have been injured following what has been reported as a “grenade attack” at a Remembrance Day ceremony at a non-Muslim cemetery in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah.
France’s Foreign Ministry described a “bomb attack” targeting World War I commemorations which were attended by European expats and diplomats, including French, British and Greek officials.
“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 attack this morning, which injured several people,” a ministry spokesperson said, adding that “France strongly condemns this cowardly, unjustifiable attack”
“There was some sort of a blast at the non-Muslim cemetery in Jeddah,” an official told Reuters. “There are four slightly injured, among them one Greek”
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Images have since circulated on social media depicting the scene with blood splattered on the cemetery grounds.
#ArabieSaoudite Tentative d'attentat ce matin au cimetière des non-musulmans à #Jeddah. Lors de la cérémonie du #11Novembre. En présence du Consul Général de France, 🇮🇪, 🇬🇧…& expatriés français. Des blessés…
15j après attaque au couteau au Consulat, la France encore visée !? pic.twitter.com/whjBGlLdad— Clarence Rodriguez (@Clarencewoman) November 11, 2020
The incident comes after a security guard was stabbed at the French consulate in the same city just 12 days ago amid a growing backlash against Islamophobic comments made by French President Emmanuel Macron which were sparked by the brutal murder of a French teacher who chose to show his class images of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in the name of freedom of speech.