Gunman Attacks U.S. Embassy In Yemen

A gunman opened fire outside the U.S. Embassy early Tuesday, but was shot by Yemeni security guards and arrested before anyone else was wounded, an Interior Ministry official said.

The gunman, who was armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, seemed to be acting alone and he did not breach the security around the embassy, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The gunman was being questioned at a hospital, the official said. Yemen immediately increased security outside the embassy.

Many embassies in the capital, San'a, went on alert this week after they received information that an unspecified terrorist attack was imminent, Yemeni security officials said.

Al Qaeda has carried out a number of major attacks in Yemen in recent years, including the bombing of the destroyer USS Cole in 2000, which killed 17 U.S. sailors. Osama bin Laden is of Yemeni origin.

The Yemeni government supports the U.S. campaign against international terrorism and has received U.S. military aid. But its crackdown on militants has suffered a number of reverses, such as the February prison breakout of 23 convicts — some of whom had been jailed for al Qaeda-linked crimes.

In mid-September, four attackers were killed by security forces outside the U.S. Embassy in the Syrian capital, Damascus, after abandoning an explosives-laden truck.

The only Islamic militant arrested in the attack died from his wounds before authorities were able to question him, a Syrian official and the government media said at the time.

The man, who was shot as he fled the truck without detonating it, died in a hospital, said an official.

The three other attackers were killed during the brazen Sept. 12 assault on the embassy. Syrian guards exchanged gunfire outside the compound's walls with the assailants, who shouted "God is great!" and tried to storm in with automatic weapons and hand grenades.

Syrian officials said all four of the attackers were Syrian citizens, not foreigners.

A Syrian guard was killed in the shooting, and 10 civilians and a Chinese diplomat were injured. No Americans were hurt.