Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed, who is now the parliament speaker, has been wounded in an explosion that occurred on Thursday evening just outside his home, reported Raajje TV. He is said to be stable now, but requires further surgeries. 

Authorities announced a team of the Australian Federal Police would arrive today in the Maldives to assist the country’s agencies in investigating the case.

The blast occurred at around 8:39 pm yesterday and the two officials of the Maldives National Defense forces, too, received serious injuries. Soon after the attack, the country’s President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih convened a cabinet meeting. 

Condemning the incident on Nasheed, Solih called the act an “attack on Maldives democracy and economy.” He promised a "swift and thorough investigation" into the attack. 

Nasheed, the first democratically elected president of the archipelago, is considered a champion of democracy there. 

Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar took to Twitter and wrote, “Deeply concerned at the attack on Speaker Mohamed Nasheed. Know that he will never be intimated.” Speaker of Indian parliament Om Birla also condemned the attack. 

As a moderate politician and defender of women’s rights, Nasheed has always pushed back Islamic extremism in the country. 

Earlier, Solih, too, had called “Islamic extremism” one of the gravest security threats for the country. Authorities in the country have recently cracked down on sleeper cells of various radical groups. 

Also, in recent years, the government has increased cooperation with foreign countries in counter-terrorism areas.