US embassy guard attacked, injured in Doha

Assailants have attacked a security guard working at the US embassy in the Qatari capital of Doha as anti-US sentiments rise in the Middle Eastern countries.

The US embassy in Doha confirmed in a statement on Thursday that one of its guards had been injured in the assault.

The statement also cautioned US nationals in the Persian Gulf kingdom to remain vigilant about their surroundings, saying that Qatari authorities have taken the attacker into custody.

“While there is no change to the overall security environment in Qatar, we use this opportunity to remind US citizens of our standing security guidance,” the statement said.

Qatari media claimed that the attack had nothing to do with the political situation in the Middle East. However, it comes against the backdrop of Washington’s endorsement of an ongoing Saudi military aggression against Yemen to which Doha is a major contributor.

The attack is the second on a US national in less than three days in the region after an Afghan army soldier opened fire on a group of US troops in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Wednesday, killing one soldier and injuring several others.

Anti-US sentiments have been high in Arab and Muslim countries with US missions and citizens always a major target of deadly attacks by those protesting US intervention in the countries.

In September 2012, gunmen attacked and American diplomatic compound in the Libyan city of Benghazi, killing US ambassador Christopher Stevens and an information management officer. A similar attack on a US consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul in 2008 resulted in six casualties