Pat Dollard | Young Americans

*** UPDATE:

Shooting outside U.S. embassy in Yemen, 3 held

SANAA - Shooting broke out at a checkpoint outside the U.S. embassy in Yemen on Monday, but Yemeni officials gave different accounts of the incident.

One official said it appeared to have been security forces firing in the air to warn an approaching car.

“Three people who were in the car are being questioned,” the security official told Reuters. “It does not seem that they had shot at the checkpoint.”

Another security official said gunmen in the car had opened fire at the checkpoint, hours after the mission said it received a threat.

Twin suicide car bombings killed 16 people outside the heavily fortified U.S. embassy in Sanaa in September, in an attack later claimed by al Qaeda.

The embassy had earlier urged Americans to be cautious in the Arab country that has been the scene of al Qaeda attacks on Western interests. (Reuters)

Gunmen Open Fire Outside U.S. Embassy in Yemen

SAN’A, Yemen — Gunmen in a car fired on a police checkpoint near the U.S. Embassy in Yemen’s capital on Monday, an Interior Ministry official said, hours after the embassy received threats of a possible attack.

Police returned fire at two gunmen in the car, which fled the scene, the official said. It was unclear if anyone was injured. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to the press. He said three men in the area were detained.

An attack on the embassy in September involving gunmen and explosives-packed vehicles killed 17 people, including six militants. Al Qaeda later claimed responsibility for that attack.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman could not be reached for comment on Monday night’s shooting.

Earlier, a Yemeni security official said the U.S. Embassy received a telephone call and an e-mail early Monday saying the U.S. and Russian embassies would be targeted by Al Qaeda within a few hours.

The U.S. Embassy confirmed receiving a threat about a potential attack on its compound, and security measures were heightened in the capital, San’a. Attempts to contact the Russian Embassy were not successful.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Ryan Gliha said earlier in the day that the embassy was urging American citizens to exercise caution in Yemen. He said the embassy received a threat “regarding a possible attack that could take place in the foreseeable future” but gave no further details.

Throughout the day, police were seen setting up security checkpoints and turning back cars and pedestrians on two key streets heading toward the U.S. Embassy in eastern San’a. There were also checkpoints around the Russian Embassy in downtown San’a, but traffic was not disrupted.

The U.S. Embassy also issued a warden message to Americans in Yemen advising them to be cautious and take “prudent security measures in all areas frequented by Westerners.”

Yemen is the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden and has an active Al Qaeda presence, despite government efforts to destroy the terror network, which has purportedly set up training camps in the country. (AP)

Yemeni soldiers carry the coffin of a comrade killed in September’s attack on the U.S. Embassy

FOX News is reporting Breaking News out of Yemen of a possible attack on the US Embassy in Yemen. Reports of a “drive-by” style shooting at a check point, with return fire exchanged …

CNN reported earlier today that there was a “WARNING” one might be coming:

CNN:

U.S. warns of possible attack on embassy in Yemen

updated 10:20 a.m. EST, Mon January 26, 2009

The U.S. Embassy in Yemen warned Americans there Monday it has received a report of a possible attack against its compound in Sanaa.

The embassy, in a warden message, said it “has received a threat against the embassy compound regarding a possible attack which could take place in the foreseeable future.”

It advises Americans “to exercise caution and take prudent security measures in all areas frequented by Westerners.” It urges Americans there to avoid crowds and demonstrations and maintain “a low profile.”

The message said Americans should vary times and routes, and make “contingency emergency plans such as ensuring travel documents are current.”

Embassy spokesman Ryan Gliha confirmed the threat but had no more details available.

A U.S. intelligence official said there was enough credible information to suggest the threat was “not just bravado” and warranted “being very cautious.” The official declined to be named because the official was not authorized to speak for the record.

Yemen has a strong Islamic militant presence and is in a strategically important region, bordering Saudi Arabia and Oman on the Arabian peninsula.

The United States has criticized the Yemeni government for not doing enough to combat terrorism and has repeatedly warned of violence that it attributes to Islamic extremists in Yemen.

U.S. and Yemeni officials say suspected Islamic insurgents disguised as Yemeni forces attacked the U.S. Embassy in Yemen’s capital in September, killing 10 Yemeni police and civilians.

A U.S. counterterrorism official last week said a Saudi national released from U.S. detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in September 2007 is believed to be a key leader in al Qaeda’s operations in Yemen and may have been involved in the attack.

The official said the freed detainee, Ali al-Shiri, traveled to Yemen after being released to Saudi Arabia.

“He is one of a handful of al Qaeda deputies in Yemen,” the official said. “He is one of the top terrorists.”

In the September incident, six attackers — including one wearing a suicide vest — also were killed.

The attack involved at least four explosions — including at least one car bomb — and sniper fire. The attackers, disguised as Yemeni forces, bombed the outer wall of the embassy and opened fire on first responders.

In April the embassy and an expatriate residential compound in the Hadda neighborhood were attacked by mortar fire.

Suspected extremists fired two mortar rounds toward the Yemen Customs Authority and Italian Embassy in April, as well, but no one was hurt.

In March, three mortar rounds landed near the embassy wounding Yemeni students at a nearby school and Yemeni government security personnel.

The United States believes al Qaeda is responsible for the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden. The attack killed 17 U.S. Navy sailors and wounded 39.

Yemen also borders the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, the region near Somalia where pirates have been hijacking commercial vessels traveling from countries all over the world.