The Lebanese military apprehended a gunman who attacked the U.S. Embassy in Awkar, northeast of Beirut, after a Wednesday morning shootout that left one local guard injured.
The individual opened fire at about 8:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday, and the army responded. All embassy personnel are accounted for and safe, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut said “small arms fire” was reported “in the vicinity of the entrance” to the embassy at 8:34 a.m. “Thanks to the quick reaction of host country 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 statement continued.
The shooter’s motives were not immediately clear, though there have been reports from local media that seemingly show a bloodied attacker wearing a black vest with the words “Islamic State” written in Arabic and the English initials “I” and “S.”
“We have been in real-time contact with Embassy Beirut. All American personnel at the embassy are safe and accounted for,” Sullivan said on NBC’s Today. “One local Lebanese guard force member who was outside of the compound was wounded. He’s receiving care now, and we’re working closely with local authorities to ascertain what exactly happened here to ensure there is no continuing threat, and we will do all we need to do to protect our people.”
The embassy said it would remain closed for the rest of the day but would reopen for business as usual on Thursday.
“I condemn the attack that took place on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut this morning,” the country’s foreign minister, Abdullah Bou Habib, said.
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“The US Embassy in Lebanon, located in the Awkar area, was targeted by gunfire from an individual holding Syrian nationality,” the Lebanese army said on social media. “Army personnel deployed in the area promptly responded to the source of the gunfire, resulting in the injury and subsequent arrest of the perpetrator, who was then transferred to a hospital for treatment. Investigations are ongoing to determine the circumstances of the incident.”
The shooting occurred at a difficult time for U.S.-Lebanese relations as the U.S. continues to support Israel’s war efforts in Gaza. Lebanon borders Israel to the north, and Hezbollah, a U.S. designated terrorist group, and Israeli forces have repeatedly fired rockets and missiles over the border since Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack that ignited the current conflict.