Maltese troops unharmed in Djibouti grenade attack

Two loud blasts struck a busy cafe in downtown Djibouti frequented by Westerners today Saturday, and at least 15 people were wounded. A Frenchman is among three killed.

Police cordoned off the scene. It was not immediately clear what caused the blasts. The witness said he saw at least 10 people sitting near the area of the cafe, with bloody wounds.

21 Armed Forces of Malta personnel and their Dutch colleagues were on the same site at the time of the attack.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tweeted that the men had been airlifted back to the Dutch vessel De Seven Provicien.

Continuously in touch with #Malta contingent, now safely on board De Seven Provincien, part of #Somalia anti-piracy op.

— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) May 24, 2014

The cafe is the La Chaumiere restaurant. Some reports suggested two "female attackers".

Islamist militants from the al-Shabab movement also attacked the Somali parliament in Mogadishu, leaving at least 10 people dead.

Explosions and gunfire were heard and witnesses reported seeing bodies. Somali police were joined by African Union troops as they engaged the attackers.

Al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, once controlled large areas of Somalia but was pushed out of major cities in 2011 and 2012.

On Monday 19 May 2014, Dutch frigate HNLMS De Zeven Provenciën joined EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta.

As the ship sailed towards the Gulf of Aden the crew maintained a high level of operational readiness. They conducted a hostage release exercise with a Dutch merchant vessel and had to coordinate a search and rescue operation. Also en route to the Gulf of Aden the ship embarked a boarding team from the Republic of Malta.

 On Wednesday 14 May the exercise with the Dutch merchant ship “Nordnes” provided the embarked Maltese boarding team and ship’s NH90 flight crew with an opportunity to conduct training in a very realistic environment.

On Thursday 15 May the Dutch frigate received a distress call from a merchant vessel that a crew member had gone overboard. The frigate, which was about 22 nautical miles away, coordinated the search and rescue operation with the NH 90 helicopter until the Maltese coastguard took over.