New DelhiMaldivian minister Ali Solih was stabbed to death on Monday afternoon by a knife-wielding man in Hulhumale, north of the capital Male. He has sustained injuries on his left hand.
The attacker was arrested soon after the violent incident.
Solih is the Minister of State for Environment, Climate Change and Technology. She is also the spokesperson for the Jumhoori Party (JP), a coalition partner of President Ibrahim Solih’s ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
According to The Times of Addu, Solih was attacked when he was riding his motorcycle on a road in Hulhumale. Maldivian media reported that the perpetrator read some verses from the Quran before attacking Solih’s neck from behind. The knife left the neck but the left hand part was cut.
Solih got off the motorcycle and ran to save himself from the attacker. He is being treated at Hulhumale Hospital.
The Maldives, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, was in the news for severely attacking former President Mohamed Nasheed in May 2021 following a bombing outside his home in the capital Male.
The explosive device was planted in a bike parked near Nasheed’s car. After providing critical care to Nasheed, he was taken to Germany for months of treatment.
The Maldives faces the threat of growing Islamic extremism as well as recruitment for global terrorist organizations.
The current government, led by President Solih with President Nasheed, is considered democratic and liberal in its approach to governance and social norms. The MDP with international backing has been running a protracted fight against the development of radical tendencies in the Indian Ocean nation.