Five people were injured in an attack by unidentified gunmen against Israel's embassy in the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott, news reaching Dakar said Friday.

The attack occurred before dawn Friday, leaving five people injured in the exchange of fire between a gang of armed men and the embassy guards, local police said, adding the injured were people living nearby.

Israeli Ambassador Boaz Bismut said he was woken up by the gunshots and so were the embassy staff, adding none of them were reported injured in the attack.

A bar near the embassy was also hit by the attack, the police said.

The Mauritanian military immediately cordoned off the embassy building after the attack.

The Mauritanian authorities made no immediate comment.

The attack came just weeks after the historic Dakar Rally was cancelled due to fears of an armed Islamist threat in the West African country.

Four French tourists and some soldiers were killed separately in two attacks in late December.

(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2008)