Here is the most recent Bloomberg.com report, apparently the attempted assault lasted for 30 minutes, the US embassy in Damascus has always been something of a "hard target" given that they expect to be the target of rioters and terrorists on fairly regular basis:
U.S. Embassy Attacked by Terrorists in Syrian Capital (Update1)
By Brian Lysaght and Dan Williams
Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Embassy in Damascus was attacked by four terrorists who detonated a car bomb before being shot dead by Syrian security forces, the U.S. and British governments and witnesses said.
Syrian forces are in control of the area in central Damascus following the attack, Curtis Cooper, a U.S. State Department spokesman in Washington, said in a telephone interview. He said he hadn't any immediate details on American casualties.
Four Islamic militants were killed by security forces in the attack, the U.K. government said in a statement. Witnesses said the terrorists detonated one car bomb, while a second vehicle containing explosives was disarmed by security forces. Television pictures showed a small white van with what appeared to be explosives and gas cylinders in the back.
The attack came in the Ain Remmeneh district, where the U.S. and several other foreign missions are located. Peter Ford, the U.K. Ambassador to Syria, said in a telephone interview with Cable News Network that the attack appeared to be the work of a small group and the tactics didn't seem to resemble those of al- Qaeda.
There was a firefight lasting about 30 minutes with explosions, and smoke rose from near the U.S. Embassy, Colonel Julian Lyne-Pirkis, Defense Attache in the British Embassy in Damascus, said in a telephone interview.
``We heard explosions and gunfire and there was a big plume of smoke. Initially we thought that was the embassy on fire but we now think it may be a vehicle,'' he said. The British Embassy is about 400 meters (365 yards) away.
Car Exploded
Nabil Samman, who heads the Center for Documentation and Research, a Damascus consultant, said that one car exploded in front of the U.S. Embassy and that a second also drove up, but didn't explode.
``There are at least 100 police around the area. People are very nervous,'' he said.
China said one of its diplomats was slightly injured by a stray bullet during the attack, the Associated Press reported.
Syrian Interior Minister Bassam Abdel Majid said that one suspected assailant had been captured. He said the vehicles used in the attack were stolen. ``In a nutshell, the terrorists did not succeed in their objective,'' he said on Syrian television.
Damascus is a tightly controlled capital with a heavy police presence. In April 2004, a United Nations office was bombed under circumstances that were never explained. This year, demonstrators protested publication of cartoons that depicted Mohammed, the prophet of Islam, by a Danish newspaper.
U.S. Compound
The U.S. operates a large and heavily-guarded compound in the city. The U.S. recalled its ambassador from Syria in February 2005 after Syrian officials were implicated in the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
Charge d'Affaires Michael Corbin is the top officer at the mission, according to the embassy's Web site.
Syria, one of the main backers of the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization and which fought a 33-day war with Israel in Lebanon.
``I was sleeping and then I heard shots. First I thought it was firecrackers. Then there was an explosion,'' said Kareem Abdul Rahman, a baker who lives in Rawda, in a telephone interview.
Abdul Rahman said that sirens sounded and he saw two ambulances motoring to the area. Gunfire broke out at about 9:30 a.m. today, he said.
