Syrian arrested after shooting near US embassy in Beirut (army)

A Syrian man was arrested Wednesday after a shooting near the US embassy in Beirut, the Lebanese army said, with the embassy saying its staff were safe.

The embassy, ​​located in the northern suburbs of Awkar, “was fired upon by a person of Syrian nationality,” the army said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

“The soldiers deployed in the area responded to the sources of fire, injuring the shooter,” the statement said, adding that “he was arrested and transported to hospital.”

The military said it was investigating the shooting.

The US Embassy said that “at 8:34 a.m. (0534 GMT)… small arms fire was reported near the entrance.”

“Thanks to the rapid response” of the Lebanese army, security forces “and our embassy security team, our facilities and our team are safe,” he said on X.

He adds that “investigations are ongoing and we are in close contact with the host country's law enforcement agencies.”

An AFP photographer said access to the area around the embassy was blocked, with a large army deployment in the area.

In footage posted on social media, a man can be heard saying in Arabic “there is an attack on the embassy”, while gunshots ring out in the background.

A judicial source told AFP that security forces were combing wooded areas near the embassy in search of possible accomplices, adding that the shooter's injuries were “serious”.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati spoke with an official from the army and security services who assured him that “the situation is under control”, according to a statement from his office.

“An investigation is underway to determine the circumstances of the incident and arrest all those involved,” the statement said, adding that US Ambassador Lisa Johnson is currently outside Lebanon.

In September last year, a gunman opened fire on the US embassy, ​​causing no casualties.

Lebanese police said the shooter was a delivery driver seeking revenge for the humiliation he suffered at the hands of security personnel.

The shooting coincided with the anniversary of a deadly 1984 car bombing outside the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut, which the United States blamed on the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

American diplomatic and military missions in Lebanon were repeatedly attacked during the 1975-1990 civil war, when radical Islamists also took several American hostages.

The embassy moved to Awkar after being hit by a suicide bombing in April 1983 that killed 63 people.

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