Five dead of shooting near French Embassy in Tanzania

He claimed on Twitter that the gunman was neutralised and that order and peace were restored.

Three policemen were killed, an embassy official and an attacker who was a foreign citizen, and police assume he is from Somalia, Reuters reports.

Police Chief Inspector Simon Siro warned that the attack could be linked to a jihadist uprising in neighboring Mozambique, where a number of African countries are fighting together extremists.

Whether the shootout in the well - secured diplomatic neighborhood was a terrorist attack is unknown. Other details are unknown, Reuters reports.

The American Embassy warned its citizens to avoid the area.