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Brazzaville – Congo called on Wednesday for its diplomats in France to be better protected after the country’s embassy in Paris was attacked by a mob that broke into the mission and started a fire.

Attackers broke down a door and forced their way into the embassy’s courtyard in the early hours on Tuesday, setting a mattress alight in a caretakers lodge as well as burning a car outside the building, a Paris police source said.

“The government condemns this terrorist act,” the Republic of Congo’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

“[This] violent attack follows other similar incidents at Congolese interests in France in recent months. The Congolese authorities request that adequate measures are taken to ensure the safety of the Congolese diplomatic presence in France,” said the statement.

The ministry said it was surprised by the “recurrence” of such incidents as France has been subject to intensified security as part of a state of emergency declared following the Paris terror attacks of November 13.

Tensions are high in Congo-Brazzaville after President Denis Sassou Nguesso was re-elected for a controversial third term in April.

An investigation into the attack on Congo’s embassy in Paris’ chic 16th arrondissement is now underway, according to police.