To no one’s surprise, responsibility for the attack on the Israeli embassy in Mauritania has been claimed by “Al Qaida in North Africa”—formerly known as the “Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat.”

Religion of peace!

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania: An al-Qaida affiliate purportedly claimed responsibility for a shooting attack on the Israeli Embassy in Mauritania’s capital, saying it had carried out the assault in response to Israeli policies in the Gaza Strip, an Arab television station reported Saturday.

At least one gunman opened fire on the Israeli Embassy in Mauritania early Friday, setting off a gunbattle with guards that wounded three bystanders, including three French citizens who had apparently been visiting a disco and restaurant adjacent to the embassy compound. Guards at the embassy returned fire, but no embassy staff were wounded. …

The Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera said that Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa, an affiliate of Osama bin Laden’s global terror network, issued a statement saying it had carried out the attack Friday morning as a reprisal against Israel’s policies in the Gaza Strip. It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the claim.

Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa, formerly known as the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, is based in Algeria and has claimed responsibility for near-simultaneous bombings at U.N. offices in Algiers and a government building on Dec. 11 that killed at least 37 people. The same group also purportedly said in an audiotape that it carried out the killing of several soldiers in Mauritania in December.