US embassy in Damascus under attack

Damascus - The US embassy in the Syrian capital came under attack Tuesday, an embassy guard said, as blasts and heavy gunfire were heard from the diplomatic quarter of Damascus.

The guard, contacted by telephone, confirmed the mission was under attack. "This is not the right time," he said, declining to answer questions.

The explosions in the Ain Remmeneh district of Damascus where the US and several other foreign missions are located sent black smoke into the air.

The whole district was cordoned off by Syrian security forces, witnesses and an AFP correspondent said.

Agence France Presse

'Terror attack' on US embassy in Syria

Damascus - Gunmen launched a brazen daylight attack on the US embassy in the heart of the Syrian capital Damascus on Tuesday, firing mortar bombs and attempting to blow up a car packed with explosives, officials and witnesses said.

Three assailants were killed and one wounded by Syrian security forces in a gunbattle during the assault on the US mission, the country's interior minister said, describing it as a terrorist attack.

"A terrorist operation targeted the US embassy. Security forces have brought the situation under control. Three terrorists were killed and one was wounded," Interior Minister General Bassam Abdel Majid said on state television.

"Home-made bombs and automatic weapons were used during the terrorist attack," he said.

The state news agency SANA reported that Syrian security forces also thwarted a car bomb attack, defusing explosives packed into a vehicle parked in front of the mission by assailants who fled and were gunned down.

It said an investigation had been launched into the attack.

There were no reports of any casualties in the US embassy and it was not immediately clear how close the attacks came to penetrating the compound.

Television footage from the scene showed a burnt-out car and bloodstains on the pavement, and a white van packed with gas bottles.

The blasts in the Abu Remmaneh district of Damascus where the US and several other foreign missions are located sent a plume of thick black smoke into the air. The entire diplomatic district was cordoned off by Syrian security forces.

Witnesses said two of the attackers had sought refuge in a nearby building but were pursued and gunned down by security forces.

"I heard gunfire at about 9:45 am (0645 GMT) and then one of my employees called me as I was heading to work and told me to go back home," said a local resident.

"He saw a car drive up the street toward the embassy. The vehicle was intercepted by security officers and a gunbattle ensued. The occupants of the vehicle threw grenades out the window toward the embassy and other buildings," the resident said.

A Western diplomat based in Damascus said the attack involved mortars bombs.

"At around 10 o'clock, several mortars were fired at the US embassy, followed by explosions, two of them loud," the diplomat said.

In Washington, the US State Department confirmed the attack.

"We can confirm reports of an attack on our embassy in Damascus by unknown assailants. The event appears to be over. Local authorities have responded and are on the scene," spokesman Curtis Cooper said.

The incident came just a day after the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States by the Al-Qaeda network of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden, the Western world's most wanted man.

On Monday, bin Laden's number two Ayman al-Zawahiri warned that the Gulf and Israel would be the next targets of Al-Qaeda, in a video message coinciding with the anniversary of the September 11 strikes.

Relations between Damascus and Washington have been strained over Iraq, Lebanon and Syria's support for militants opposed to the peace process with Israel. Washington is represented in Syria by a charge d'affaires.

The attack on the embassy came less than four weeks after the end of Israel's month-long war in Lebanon against the Syrian-backed Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

The United States had come under fire in the Arab world for its staunch support of Israel and its failure to call for a rapid ceasefire in the conflict, which left more than 1,200 people dead in Lebanon alone.

Agence France Presse