http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14794377/
Gunmen attack U.S. Embassy in Damascus
3 assailants killed after car bomb, gunfire; all U.S. personnel reported safe
BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 4:40 a.m. ET Sept. 12, 2006
DAMASCUS, Syria - The Syrian government said Tuesday that security forces have
killed three of the assailants in a "terrorist attack" against the U.S. Embassy
in Damascus.
A Syrian who works at the U.S. Embassy contacted by The Associated Press by
telephone said there were no U.S. casualties. He spoke on condition of
anonymity and said Syrian security forces were handling the situation.
It was not immediately clear if there were any Syrian causalities.
In Washington, the U.S. State Department said it had no immediate information
and was looking into news reports of the attack.
Car bomb
A witness said two gunmen stopped a car on the street in front of the embassy,
got out of the car, shot at the Syrian sentries in front of the building's
entrance and then detonated the car.
The witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of
the matter, said the security personnel shot back, and security forces in the
area quickly rushed to the scene.
Another witness said he saw one man was lying on the ground, but it was not
clear whether he was one of the attackers or a Syrian security member.
An embassy official, speaking to The AP on condition of anonymity because he
was not authorized to speak to the media, said the "incident happened in the
perimeter of the embassy." He said the embassy had no further details, adding
"the embassy depends on Syrian security personnel to deal with the situation."
The official would not say whether there was any damage or casualties in the
compound.
The Syrian employee who works at the American Embassy said gunfire and
explosions could be heard just after 10 a.m., and the shootings lasted about 20
minutes.
An official at the Iraqi Embassy, which is located across the street from the
American Embassy, said he saw smoke coming from the building. But the official,
who to The AP spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to
speak to the press, said the whole area is surrounded by police and Iraqi
Embassy workers are not allowed to leave the building.
Stay tuned for more details from this developing story.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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