A French official at the Foreign Ministry in Paris confirmed this Wednesday morning that gunshots had been fire near the French Embassy in the Yemeni capital Sana'a, less than a day after terrorists in Libya slammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into France's Tripoli offices.
With France clearly in the firing line, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius made clear at a press conference on Tuesday that his country would not stand idly while its diplomats were being targeted by terrorists.
Speaking from Paris a foreign ministry' spokesperson noted the authorities were "carefully monitoring the situation in Sana'a," adding ""This morning a person fired shots into the air near our embassy in Yemen."
While the French Embassy in Sana'a has never suffered any terror attack before, French diplomats are however have suffered Islamists' ire on more than one occasion.
Back in September 2012, the French Embassy had to tighten its security following the publication in in the Charlie Hebdo, a French weekly of anti-Islam cartoons.
The cartoons which coincided with reports U.S soldiers had desecrated the Quran, led to an explosion of anger across the Muslim world and a series of violent attacks against the U.S Embassy in Sana'a.
While this time no apparent trigger could explain why terrorists have chosen France as their next target, the move could foretell an escalation in terror activities in the capital Sana'a in retaliation to American-led drone strikes.