September 12, 2006

Jihadists Attack U.S. Embassy in Syria

A group of Islamic jihadists attempted to storm the U.S. Embassy in Damascus this morning. No Americans were hurt in the attack, but a Syrian anti-terror officer was killed. The terrorists used automatic rifles, hand grenades, and at least one van rigged with explosives, shouting the obligatory "Allahu Akhbar" as they moved on the Embassy compound.

Three of them were killed in the ensuing shootout with Syrian security forces. Jund al-Sham, an Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group based in Syria, is the prime suspect thus far in the attack. The timing is interesting, given yesterday's 9/11 anniversary tape from al-Qaeda's number two man, Ayman al-Zawahiri. In that tape, Zawahiri threatens secular Arab regimes in the Middle East, and Syria's socialist Baath Party regime is certainly one of those.

Syria, although it is home to Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad offices and supports those terror groups extensively, is no friend of al-Qaeda. That's because al-Qaeda seeks to topple secular "infidel" Arab rulers like Syria's Bashar al-Assad in its quest to transform the region into an Islamic caliphate. Here's more on today's foiled Embassy attack from AP:

State television said four armed attackers "attempted to storm" the embassy, using automatic rifles and hand grenades. Syrian security guards attacked the gunmen, killing three and wounding a fourth, TV said.

The attackers came in two cars and parked one that was rigged with explosives in front of the embassy but did not blow it up, state-run TV reported. Explosives experts dismantled the bomb, it said.

But a witness told The Associated Press that two gunmen drove up in front of the embassy, got out of their car, shot at the Syrian sentries at the building's entrance, and then detonated explosives in the car. The witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the security personnel fired back, and security forces rushed to the scene.

Television showed a delivery van loaded with pipe bombs strapped to large propane gas canisters outside the embassy. Had the bombs detonated, the explosions could have caused massive damage. The video also showed the charred remains of a smaller car parked several feet behind the van. Up to 40 U.S. diplomats are posted at the embassy, which is "average" in size, according to Tom Case, a deputy spokesman at the State Department.

EMail Erick Stakelbeck With Your Comments ...