Update: Japan's Longest-Serving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Confirmed Dead After Being Shot During Speech
Japan National broadcaster has reported that former Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe has died. Abe who is aged 67 until his death remains the
longest-serving prime minister. He was shot while giving a campaign speech on
Friday, July 8.
The suspected attacker is reportedly a man in
his 40s. He was tackled at the scene by the Japanese secret service and arrested.
At this time the motive for the attack is yet to be ascertained.
After
being shot, Abe sustained wounds on the right side of his neck and left clavicle.
Reactign to this news, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said he was "deeply distressed by the attack" and he
described Abe as a “dear friend”
In Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
said his country's "thoughts are with [Abe's] family and the people of
Japan at this time".
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Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's PM, shared a post on Facebook,
describing the shooting as a "senseless act of violence". He also
described Abe as "a good friend of Singapore".
New Zealand's leader Jacinda Ardern recalled Abe as one of the
first world leaders she met "when I became Prime Minister". And she
said: "Events like this shake us all to the core."
Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, gave a brief reaction in
which he said he "didn't know" much about the incident. He also
expressed "my condolences to my Japanese colleague for what
happened."
The shooting of Abe in Japan is shocking as Gun violence is very
rare in Japan, and guns are extremely difficult to own.
Photographs
taken as the suspect was being apprehended show what looks like an improvised,
or home-made, double-barrelled shotgun.
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