At least three people were wounded on Friday morning after a gun attack on the Israeli embassy in Nouakchott, Mauritania, a Foreign Ministry spokesman announced. The attackers were apparently in a group of three, as some eyewitnesses recall, and shouted “Allah Akbar” while opening fire at round 2 a.m.

Mauritania, which is a predominantly Muslim country, has had to deal with numerous requests to break the diplomatic relations with Israel, that have been formally opened in 2000, including from political parties, after the Israeli actions in Gaza.

No embassy employees were wounded in the crossfire, a spokesman confirmed. The only victims were some bystanders who unwillingly witnessed the incident. The attacks came just one month after suspected al Qaeda members provoked two other attacks in the country, and killing four French tourists and several soldiers.

The three victims in this incident were reportedly two club owners and a French woman, who were at around 50 meters from the embassy, when the gunmen also fired at a nightclub. The exact number or the identities of any of the attackers remain unknown, as authorities opened an investigation.

Mauritania is one of the three Arab countries to have diplomatic relations with Israel, besides Jordan and Egypt. “This is very sad. The relation between Israel and Mauritania is a symbol of peace,” Israeli Ambassador Boaz Bismuth told Reuters. “A shooting on a foreign embassy is a very serious incident.”

Following the incident, all Israeli embassies gave been under high alert, and strict security measures will be taken. The attack shouldn’t have come as a surprise though, considering the Islamic extremists position regarding the political relations with Israel.

The attacks raised concerns among authorities that this could be only the beginning of a series of violent reactions to Israel’s actions. The Lisbon – Dakar rally, which was supposed to pass through Mauritania, is a elocvent example, as it has been canceled in December for security measures.