Maldives police say bomb blast targeting Nasheed ‘act of terror’

No arrests so far but police seek four people who were noticed ‘due to suspicious behaviour at crime scene’.

Male, Maldives – Police in the Maldives have said an explosion that left Mohamed Nasheed, the country’s former president and current speaker of parliament, in critical condition was a “deliberate act of terror”. The 53-year-old leader of the ruling party was rushed to hospital in the capital, Male, after a device attached to a motorbike exploded at approximately 8:30pm local time on Thursday. He remains in intensive care after undergoing “a successful final, critical, life-saving procedure”, ADK Hospital said on Friday. Nasheed required multiple surgeries over a 16-hour period to remove shrapnel and treat life-threatening injuries to the head, chest, abdomen and chest, the hospital tweeted as the police briefed reporters on Friday afternoon.