Chief of Defence Force Major General Abdulla Shamaal has stated the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) used in the terrorist attack against Speaker of Parliament and former President Mohamed Nasheed on May 6 was more powerful than the bomb used in the 2007 Sultan Park explosion.
At a press conference held by Ministry of Defence and Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), the Defence Chief said the homemade IED used in the recent attack was an extremely powerful remote-controlled device and had enough explosives to devastate a large area and threaten the lives of a large number of people. Major General Shamaal said the IED also included ball bearings used as shrapnel to increase its effectiveness at harming victims upon detonation. He said investigative officials have determined that the attack was not a timed explosion, and the remote used in the IED was possibly taken from a sports car. He added the features of the IED shows it was orders of magnitude more powerful than the bomb used in the Sultan Park attack.
The Defence Chief also described the actions of Speaker Nasheed and his security detail during the attack and the responsive action taken by MNDF. He noted the bodyguards assigned by the Special Protection Group (SPG) had acted in accordance to the standard procedures in responding to the incident.
Also at the press conference, Director General of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) Brigadier General Zakariyya Mansoor said it is extremely worrying that there are people in the Maldives who do not hesitate to commit terror attacks in the country. The Director General highlighted the potential long-term impact of the attack on the Maldives and how the nation is perceived internationally. He said the Maldives has always been perceived as a peaceful country but some foreign outlets have reported on the attack and warned people not to visit the Maldives, at a time when the country is slowly recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brigadier General Mansoor further noted there are many people in the country who have joined foreign terrorist groups and are willing to commit terror attacks. However, he added that the government's anti-terrorism laws have helped in MNDF and the Maldives Police Service's work to identify and investigate extremists.