Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida vowed on Sunday to make every effort to ensure the safe conduct of Group of 7 (G7) meetings, a day after his bodyguards hurriedly removed him after an object exploded at the campaign event where the attack took place. .

Mr. Kishida walked away unscathed after a man threw what appeared to be a “smoker” as the prime minister prepared to give a speech at a port in western Japan.

The suspect, who police say is 24-year-old Ryuji Kimura. he also had a knife when he was arrested and possibly a second explosive device. who flew to the scene when the police arrived, according to the Kyodo news agency.

The motive for the attack, during which, according to media reports, a police officer was slightly injured, has not yet been reported.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Kishida said that Japan should not allow acts of violence that are contrary to the foundations of democracy. “At a time when high-ranking officials from around the world” are in Japan for two G7 ministerial meetings, the country “as a whole needs to intensify security efforts,” Mr. Kishida told reporters on Easter Sunday.

The incident brought back memories murder last July of the former prime minister Shinzo Abewho was shot by a man with a homemade weapon in the middle of his campaign speech.

Government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said on Saturday that police have been ordered to step up security measures and that the government will do everything necessary to guarantee security when Japan hosts the May G7 summit in Hiroshima.

G7 ministerial meetings are taking place this weekend in the north and center of the country.

Source: APE-MPE, Kyodo.