Assassination attempt on Ex-Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed

Nasheed, currently the Maldivian Parliament Speaker, sustained injuries and is receiving treatment at ADK Hospital in Male. Doctors at the hospital said Nasheed was brought in with shrapnel injuries.

Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed has been injured in a blast on Thursday near his home.

Nasheed, currently the Maldivian Parliament Speaker, sustained injuries and is receiving treatment at ADK Hospital in Male. Doctors at the hospital said Nasheed was brought in with shrapnel injuries.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has ordered a probe into the bombing. He denounced the attack on the country's second-most-powerful figure.

Maldives foreign minister Abdulla Shahid said in a tweet: "Strongly condemn the attack on Speaker of Parliament, President Mohamed Nasheed. Cowardly attacks have no place in our society. My thoughts and prayers are with President Nasheed and others injured in this attack, as well as their families."

India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar described the blast as an attack on Nasheed.

"Wish him a speedy recovery. Know that he (Nasheed) will never be intimidated," Jaishankar said in a Twitter post.

Nasheed was president of Maldives from 2008 to 2012 when he had to resign amid public protests. He was defeated in the following presidential election. 

Nasheed, a vocal critic of religious extremism in the predominantly Sunni Muslim nation, was ineligible to enter the 2018 election due to a prison sentence. His party colleague Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the 2018 presidential election.