The Lebanese military thwarted an assault by gunmen on the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon on Wednesday morning in Beirut. One assailant was reportedly killed.
A Lebanese safety official informed The Related Press that there have been 4 assailants, together with one who drove them to the location and three who opened hearth. One shooter was killed, one escaped and the third was wounded and detained by the Lebanese navy.
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut stated “small arms hearth” was reported within the neighborhood of its entrance round 8:34 a.m. native time, however that its facility and staff had been secure.
“Investigations are underway and we’re in shut contact with host nation legislation enforcement,” the embassy wrote on X, the platform previously referred to as Twitter.
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A member of the embassy’s safety staff was wounded within the assault and the Lebanese military shot an attacker within the abdomen, a safety supply informed Reuters. The military is constant to look by way of the world for different potential attackers.
The Lebanese navy stated it deployed troops across the embassy and surrounding areas.
The motives for the assault weren’t clear however Lebanese media printed photographs that seem to point out a bloodied attacker carrying a black vest with the phrases “Islamic State” written in Arabic and the English initials “I” and “S.”
Native media reported there was a gunfight for nearly half an hour by the U.S. diplomatic mission.
The embassy is positioned within the suburb of Aukar, north of Beirut, in a extremely secured zone with a number of checkpoints alongside the path to the doorway. It moved there from Beirut after greater than 60 individuals had been killed in a suicide assault in 1983.
In September, Lebanese safety forces detained a Lebanese man who opened hearth by the U.S. Embassy. No casualties had been reported in that assault.
The next month, tons of of protesters clashed with Lebanese safety forces in pro-Palestinian demonstrations close to the U.S. Embassy amid the battle between Hamas terrorists and Israeli forces.
Reuters and The Related Press contributed to this report.