Former President and current Speaker of the People’s Majlis, Mohamed Nasheed has welcomed the joint counter-terrorism operation being conducted by Maldivian authorities.

The joint counter-terrorism operation was launched by the Maldives Police Service (MPS) and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and stemmed from reports that a group of extremists in southernmost Addu City were attempting to carry out an act of terrorism using explosives.

14 individuals were arrested in connection with the joint operation.

In a Twitter post on Monday evening, Nasheed welcomed the joint counter-terrorism efforts conducted by the MPS and MNDF.

The former president stressed that there was nothing more important than maintaining peace and solidarity in the small archipelago nation.

MPS has revealed that the 14 individuals arrested through the counter-terrorism operation were all residents of the southernmost city and nine out of them had been arrested in connection with terrorism cases in the past as well.

Police findings indicate that the group of extremists was planning a massive assassination attempt using explosives.

The police institution also revealed that officers had confiscated materials linked to the case at the residences raided and searched in the operation.

Counter-terrorism operations have been conducted in several regions of the archipelago nation previously as well. Authorities have made several arrests through such operations in the past.

Nasheed himself was targeted in an assassination attempt on 6 May 2021, as he was heading out to attend an event in an island. The attack, which saw a remote-controlled IED explode near his residence in the center of congested Malé City, caused serious injuries to the ex-president who was rushed to the hospital within seven minutes after being knocked to the ground by the blast, which was dubbed far more powerful than a similar explosion in Malé City's Sultan Park, in 2007.

The shrapnel pieces from the bomb blast caused immense damage to the ex-president’s internal organs, but had missed some vital arteries and organs. A shrapnel piece struck his rib, which otherwise would have struck his heart, leading to a fatality. Speaker Nasheed underwent 16 hours of live-saving surgery at ADK hospital. Nasheed returned to Maldives in October 2021, after nearly five months abroad.

The trial for those charged in connection with the assassination attempt, is currently ongoing at the Criminal Court.