Shots fired at US Beirut embassy
A gunman fired shots at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut on Wednesday, the Lebanese army said. The army said it fired back and injured the attacker, a Syrian national, who was then taken to hospital for treatment, according to some media reports the assailant was killed.
The local media reports described the attack as having lasted nearly 30 minutes and the army said they were increasing their presence in the area of the embassy.
"At 8:34 a.m. local time, small arms fire was reported in the vicinity of the entrance to the U.S. Embassy. Thanks to the quick reaction of the LAF, ISF, and our Embassy security team, our facility and our team are safe," the embassy said in a post on X
"Investigations are underway and we are in close contact with host country law enforcement," the embassy said in a post on X.
Saudi Arabia's Al-Hadath television channel said the assailant's gun had a symbol of ISIS on it.
A security source told Reuters a member of the embassy's security team was wounded in the attack and that Lebanese soldiers wounded an attacker in the stomach.
The embassy lies north of Beirut in a highly secured zone with multiple checkpoints along the route to the entrance. It moved there from Beirut following a suicide attack in 1983 which killed more than 60 people.
In September, shots were fired near the embassy with no injuries reported. In October, scores of protesters gathered outside the embassy to demonstrate in the early days of the Gaza war, and Lebanese security forces used tear gas and water cannon to repel them.
Lebanon has been the scene of conflict between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel since October in parallel to the Gaza war. Tens of thousands of people on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border have been uprooted amid fears that the war will deepen.
The United States has been making diplomatic efforts to ease violence along the border.