A smoke bomb was thrown at Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in connection with this weekend’s election rally. The prime minister is said to be unharmed and the perpetrator has been arrested. Kishida was supposed to give a speech in the Japanese port city of Wakayama, south of Osaka. According to Japanese media, the explosion occurred just before the speech was to begin and a witness described to the NHK TV channel that she saw something flying and then there was a big bang. Television images show how police officers were able to immediately arrest an unidentified man and drag him away from the scene as bystanders fled. Was quickly taken to safety Kishida was also quickly taken to safety and there are currently no reports of any injuries. Kishida says, according to the news agency Kyodo, that the attack should not be allowed to influence the Japanese election in any way. The incident comes just nine months after Kishida’s deputy, Shinzo Abe, was shot dead during a campaign rally in the city of Nara. The attack has meant that security measures have been significantly tightened in Japan.
t4-general