Lebanese special forces patrol a road Wednesday leading to the U.S. Embassy in the northern Beirut suburb of Awkar. Lebanon Armed Forces were out in force in the area after a fire-fight with a gunman, said to be a Syrian national, who was shooting at the embassy complex. Photo by Wael Hamzeh/EPA-EFE
June 5 (UPI) — The U.S. Embassy in Beirut came under fire Wednesday morning but Marine Security Guards working with Lebanese security forces quickly neutralized the threat, the embassy said.
Small arms fire was reported in the vicinity of the entrance to the compound just after 8:30 a.m. local time, the embassy wrote in a post on X.
“Thanks to the quick reaction of the Lebanese Armed Forces, Internal Security Forces and our Embassy security team, our facility and our team are safe. Investigations are underway and we are in close contact with host country law enforcement,” the embassy said.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in an interview with TODAY that an embassy guard had been injured in the attack and U.S. official told NBC News that initial assessments indicated the injury was minor.
Lebanese media reported a 30-minute gun battle that ended with an unidentified Syrian national who was allegedly firing at the embassy in the north of the capital being shot and taken into custody.
Images circulating online appear to show an assailant wearing clothing emblazoned with the Arabic for “Islamic State” and the English initials for the group which is proscribed as a terror organization in most countries.
The incident comes amid increased instability in Lebanon spilling over from the Israel-Hamas war which ignited months of cross-border fighting between Hezbollah fighters embedded in southern Lebanon and the Israel Defense Forces, forcing hundreds of Israelis in the north of the country to flee their homes.
On a visit to the border Wednesday to inspect damage from forest fires sparked by Hezbollah rockets, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “prepared for very intense action in the north.”
The incident has ramped up pressure on Netanyahu from right-wing backers of his coalition already threatening to resign and bring the government down if he accepts a new U.S.-backed 3-stage-plan to end the war in Gaza.
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut has been the target of several terror attacks, the worst of which was a suicide truck bombing in 1983 that killed 63 people, including 17 Americans.
There have also been attacks on American diplomatic missions in Kenya, Tanzania and Libya. U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, another diplomat and three U.S. contractors were killed in the attack on the U.S. government facilities in Benghazi in 2012.