2007 killing of French tourists in Mauritania

The 2007 killing of French tourists in Mauritania happened on December 24, 2007. The attack happened near Aleg, 250 km east of the capital Nouakchott.

The victims, five French tourists on holiday, were attacked while they were having a picnic. Four of them were killed and the fifth was seriously injured. The lone survivor had his two adult sons killed along with his brother and a friend. The 2008 Dakar Rally was cancelled because of this incident due to concerns of a possible terrorist attack.

Mauritanian authorities arrested nine people on January 7, 2008. An assault rifle was recovered by police from a location close to the scene of the killings. The Mauritanian interior minister blamed a terrorist sleeper cell for the killings. Authorities say suspects are members of an extremist group linked to al-Qaida.

One of the suspects arrested in January, Sidi Ould Sidna, escaped from the police in March but was arrested again in April. Sidna had trained with the group Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, which confirmed Sidna was affiliated with their organization.