VIDEO - Four gunmen shouting religious slogans attacked the US embassy in Damascus on Tuesday, but failed to harm any American diplomats before all four were killed, a Syrian official said.
The official said all US diplomats were safe. A witness said at least one Syrian security guard had been killed.
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| Scene of attack (Video: Reuters) |
Syrian security forces sealed off the Rawda area after heavy gunfire erupted. Ambulances and fire fighting units rushed to the scene, sirens wailing. The district also houses security installations and the homes of top government officials.
There was no word on the identity of the attackers, but Syrian forces clashed with Islamist terrorists several times last year, usually in raids to arrest them.
In June, four gunmen and a guard were killed when Syrian security forces said they had foiled an attack near the premises of state-run television in Damascus.
Britain's ambassador to Syria, Peter Ford, told CNN that the attack did not appear to be a "major al-Qaeda-like operation, but an operation by a small group".
The US State Department in Washington said it was checking the reports and had no immediate information. US diplomats in Beirut also said they had no immediate word on the event.
Syria, accused by the United States of helping insurgents in Iraq and backing groups such as Lebanon's Hizbullah and the Palestinian Hamas movement, blames the rise of militancy in the region on US policies such as the Iraq war and Washington's support for Israel.
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