Police in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have foiled a bomb attack targeting an American doctor in the capital, Abu Dhabi.
Emirati Interior Minister Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan said on Thursday that the makeshift bomb, which was left at the house of the American physician, was dismantled by the police after being discovered by one of the doctor’s children.
The development comes as attacks on US nationals are increasing in the Persian Gulf country.
On December 1, an American schoolteacher, identified as Ibolya Ryan, was stabbed to death by an attacker in the restroom of a high-end mall in Abu Dhabi.
The 47-year-old was taken to the hospital after the assault, but succumbed to her injuries.
According to the police, she was attacked by a butcher's knife-wielding assailant wearing the full black veil, which is common throughout the Persian Gulf Arab region.
The interior minister, meanwhile, said a female suspect in the stabbing incident has been arrested, adding that the attacker was also behind the bombing plot.
“We await the results of the ongoing police investigation before making conclusions about why this senseless tragedy occurred,” said Footprints Recruiting, a Vancouver-based teacher recruitment company that found a job for the victim.
In October, the US Embassy in Abu Dhabi had warned US citizens of an anonymous Internet post that encouraged attacks against teachers at American and other international schools.
