A suicide bomber blew himself up outside the French embassy in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott on Saturday evening, killing himself and injuring two guards. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

The attack came three days after General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who overthrew the democratically elected government in August of last year, was sworn in as president after winning July's election.

President Abdel Aziz has sworn to crack down on al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisation. There have been a number of attacks against Western targets in Mauritania in recent years.

Mauritania