Several people were wounded in an Islamist terrorist attack on the Israeli embassy the Islamic Republic of Mauritania Friday morning, according to eyewitness reports.

Six gunmen yelled "Allah Hu Akbar" ("G-d is Great" in Arabic) before firing their weapons at the embassy compound in the nation's capital, Nouakchott just after 2:00 a.m. One unidentified eyewitness said five people were wounded, including one foreign national, according to Ynet.

The terrorists fled on foot and then jumped into a getaway car after exchanging fire with the embassy's guards. There has been no official comment from the Mauritanian government so far.

Speaking to Voice of Israel government radio, Israeli Ambassador Boaz Bismuth said none of the embassy staff was wounded in the attack. One Mauritanian citizen who lived near the embassy was identified as wounded.

Bismuth added that the attack followed protests throughout the African nation this week over Israel's blockade of Gaza. A number of political parties in the country have called on the government to sever ties with the Jewish State.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Ministry Director-General Aharon Abramovitch both spoke with Bismuth immediately following the attack, said the Ambassador. An investigative team from the Foreign Ministry left Friday for Mauritania, according to ministry spokeswoman Yael Ravia-Tzadok.

Mauritania is an Islamic member nation of the Arab League and is one of three Muslim countries that has formal ties to Israel. Diplomatic relations with Mauritania were established in 1999.

It is located in northwest Africa, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, and surrounded by the western Sahara Desert and Morocco, Algeria, Mali and Senegal.

Terrorists murdered four French tourists there on December 24, 2007 in an attack the Mauritanian government blamed on an al-Qaeda sleeper cell.