NOUAKCHOTT, Dec 24: Gunmen armed with assault rifles shot dead four French tourists from the same family and seriously injured a fifth in Mauritania on Monday, police said.

The family were attacked in their car on the road 15 km from Aleg, in a popular sightseeing area 250 km southeast of the West African country’s capital, Nouakchott, said a police officer who declined to be named.

The fifth tourist, the father of the family, was injured in the leg and taken to Aleg’s hospital, and was in a serious condition, he said.

The three attackers were armed with semi-automatic assault rifles and drove two Mercedes saloon cars, he said.

Arab TV channels Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya television broadcast news of the attacks from their correspondents in Mauritania.

The foreign ministry in Paris had no immediate comment.

There was no immediate indication whether Monday’s attack had any political motive or if the French family had been robbed.—Reuters