Fourth US Embassy attacker dies in Syria

A fourth militant who allegedly participated in the attack on the US Embassy in Damascus has died from injuries, a Syrian official said today.

Three of the other suspected Islamic militants were killed in the brazen, mid-morning assault on the embassy yesterday.

Syrian guards exchanged gunfire outside the compound’s walls with the attackers, who shouted “God is great” and tried to storm in with automatic weapons and hand grenades.

A Syrian guard was killed in the attack. No Americans were hurt.

The rapid response by Syrian guards won rare praise from the United States, which accuses President Bashar Assad’s regime of supporting terrorism in its backing of Hezbollah guerrillas and Palestinian militants.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but suspicion immediately fell on a little-known al-Qaida offshoot called Jund al-Sham, Arabic for Soldiers of Syria.

Syria’s ambassador to the US, Imad Moustapha, said it was too early to say, but “it’s logically possible” Jund al-Sham was responsible.