Four dead in attack on US embassy in Syria

Updated at 6.04pm

DAMASCUS: Gunmen launched a brazen daylight assault on the US embassy in Damascus on Tuesday, using grenades, automatic weapons and an explosives-laden van in a "terror" attack that left four people dead.      

Three assailants and a member of Syria's anti-terror squad were killed in a shootout during the attempt to storm the embassy, which came just a day after the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.       

"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.          

The state news agency SANA said an anti-terror operative was killed and another 14 people wounded, including an embassy guard and passers by in the area, which is close to the offices of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.        

"All embassy personnel and their family members are safe," the US embassy said in a statement, adding that the local guard was injured by gunfire and was in stable condition at a local hospital.        

Chinese state media said a Chinese diplomat had been slightly injured by a stray bullet.

It was the latest in a series of deadly attacks against US diplomatic missions across the globe, the most recent being in March 2006 in Pakistan.             

"Home-made bombs and automatic weapons were used during the terrorist attack," SANA said, adding that security forces thwarted a car bomb attack, defusing explosives packed into a van parked in front of the mission by assailants who fled and were gunned down.        

Television footage from the scene in the top-security diplomatic district of the capital showed a burnt-out car and bloodstains on the pavement outside the white walled high-security compound, and a white van packed with gas bottles.        

SANA said an investigation had been launched. The embassy said its charge d'affaires Michael Corbin had met the Syrian interior minister at the scene, adding: "The Syrian government has pledged full security cooperation."         

Although the attackers failed to penetrate the high barbed-wire topped walls of the compound, one window near an entrance door was pierced by a bullet. The blasts in the Abu Remmaneh district 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 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."    

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.           

The attack 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.