Global Insight Perspective | |
Significance | Although details of the attack are vague, it is known that at least three attackers, as well as a Syrian security guard, have been killed in the assault. The U.S. State Department has so far only confirmed "reports of an attack" on its embassy in Damascus. |
Implications | Syrian officials have said that the U.S. Embassy was targeted by a car bomb and grenade attack, although the car bomb apparently failed to detonate. It is unclear whether the grenades breached the parameters of the embassy compound. |
Outlook | Clashes between Syrian security forces and suspected Islamic militants have assumed heightened frequency in recent months. This latest incident, coming one day after the fifth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States, however, looks to be a localised affair and does not seem to bear the hallmarks of al-Qaida. |
Embassy Under Attack
Syrian security forces claim to have foiled an attack against the U.S. Embassy in Syria. Syria’s Interior Minister General Bassim Majid announced on Syrian state television that "a terrorist operation targeted the US embassy. Security forces have brought the situation under control. Three terrorists were killed and one was wounded." There are no reports of U.S. casualties. According to BBC reports, four men shouting religious slogans in a car with "Lebanese licence plates" began throwing grenades at the embassy earlier this morning.
Although there have been previous security incidents in Damascus, attacks in the capital are rare, reflecting the pervasive presence of Syrian security services. In June this year Syrian security forces claimed to have foiled an attack by Islamic militants against the state-run television network. Syria’s security preoccupation was underlined by the appointment of Majid, a former head of military police, to the Interior Ministry in February 2006 (see Syria: 13 February 2006: Syrian Foreign Minister Assumes Vice Presidency in Cabinet Reshuffle). The heightened domestic security threat also coincided with Syria’s increased international isolation following the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri. Relations between Syria and the United States are already strained because Syria’s support of the Palestinian Hamas movement and the Lebanese group Hizbollah reached a new low following the Hariri killing, with the United States leading the chorus of international calls for Syria’s withdrawal from Lebanon.
Outlook and Implications
With reports suggesting that this was a sophisticated attack, it would certainly be an unprecedented development against foreign interests in Syria. Despite Syria’s international isolation and domestic anger at the perceived Western foreign policy imbalance, particularly as a result of recent developments in Lebanon, an attack of this nature remains a significant departure from the carefully choreographed protests of the past. What remains unclear is whether the attackers were in fact Syrian, given the apparent reference to Lebanon on the number plates used by the alleged perpetrators. The Lebanon connection, especially in light of the raw emotions caused by the Israeli military offensive, would prove a useful legitimising tool for those engaged in anti-U.S. action. The attack coming a day after the fifth anniversary of the 11 September attacks against the United States underlines the continued anger at U.S. foreign policy by individuals and movements that are unlikely to have direct operational links with al-Qaida, but are supportive of its anti-U.S. stance. It is also premature to speculate on the outcome of this attack on U.S.-Syrian relations. Yet, an attack against U.S. interests on Syrian soil could help the U.S. regime decide whether it wants regime change in Syria, and all that this entails for a country with its own unique sectarian fault lines, or whether it wants the regime to amend its regional conduct and return to the international fold.