There is no indication a strike on a U.S. convoy in Nigeria was directed at the U.S., officials say.
Gunmen attacked the U.S. Embassy convoy in the southeast part of the country on Tuesday, killing four people, authorities said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a Wednesday statement that “we have no indications at this time that it was targeted against our mission.”
What happened in the attack on the US convoy?
Two local workers and two policemen were killed after assailants opened fire in the Ogbaru local government area of the southeastern Anambra State, police said.
“The hoodlums murdered two of the Police Mobile Force operatives and two staff of the Consulate, and set their bodies ablaze and their vehicles,” said Tochukwu Ikenga, a police spokesman in Anambra.
Security forces were deployed to the scene but arrived after assailants escaped with two other police officers and one of the drivers, Ikenga said.
Were any US citizens injured in the attack?
No U.S. citizens were involved, National Security Council communications coordinator John Kirby said at a Tuesday news conference.
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A possible motive behind the attack is unclear, Blinken said.
Who was in the convoy?
The convoy included nine Nigerian nationals, including five employees of the U.S. Mission to Nigeria and four members of the Nigeria Police Force, Blinken said. They were traveling ahead of a visit to a U.S.-funded flood response project in Anambra, he said.
Anambra has become one of the epicenters of separatist violence in the Nigeria’s southeastern region.
The U.S. State Department said its personnel in Nigeria are working with the country’s security agencies to investigate the attack.
Contributing: The Associated Press
