Australian man stabbed in Maldives terror attack

Shocking footage shows an Australian man being rushed to hospital on the back of a scooter after he was stabbed in a terror attack in the Maldives, and suspects have been arrested. WARNING: GRAPHIC

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An Australian man has been stabbed in a “heinous” terror attack in the tropical island paradise of the Maldives.

The 44-year-old man and two Chinese citizens were attacked in three separate locations on the island of Hulhumale on Tuesday night, local time.

Shocking footage shows the Australian covered in blood on the back of a scooter as he was taken to hospital by a member of the public.

He is seen in the footage, confirmed by a local police source, calmly walking into the Tree Top Hospital where he was tonight recovering.

The Australian man bleeding at the back of a scooter.

The Herald Sun understands that the man is not a tourist, and was in the Maldives on a working visa.

Six suspects were arrested in connection with the wounding of two Chinese nationals and the Australian.

The three were stabbed outdoors in separate attacks Tuesday on Hulhumale Island, adjoining the airport island in the capital region.

The government says the three are recovering in a hospital.

The ABC reported the Australian victim’s injuries were not serious and the others were stable. The Security Council met with tourism industry representatives on Thursday to consult about enhancing security in areas frequented by tourists, the statement from the president’s office said.

It was not specific about the measures that were planned.

The man calmly walked into the Tree Top Hospital where he was recovering.

A spokesman said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was “seeking to contact an Australian man hospitalised in the Maldives”.

Hulhumale is located in the North Male Atoll, which is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean southwest of Sri Lanka and India.

It is believed that one of the Chinese nationals was a tourist and the other worked in the city.

A radical Maldivian group affiliated with Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack in a video posted online, local media reported.

Smartraveller advises Australians to exercise normal safety precautions in the Maldives.

One of the three masked men seen in the video accused the Maldivian government of being run by infidels and warned more such attacks were coming.

Police said the service was “establishing the validity of a video circulating on social media”.

The attack comes after a 35-year-old man identified by US authorities as a leader for Islamic State in the Maldives was arrested last year.

He was accused of leading Islamic State recruitment in the mainly Sunni Muslim nation.

– with wires

Originally published as Australian man stabbed in Maldives terror attack