An attack on the US embassy in Damascus has been foiled by local security forces, Syrian officials say.

At least three assailants tried to drive a car at the embassy compound but were killed by guards, officials and eyewitnesses said.

Syrian TV said the attackers tried to detonate a car bomb, but failed. There are no reports of American casualties.

Security forces have sealed off the Rawda area, which houses other embassies and security installations.

Damascus has seen sporadic unrest in recent years, including a suspected attempt to bomb the Canadian embassy.

“A terrorist operation targeted the US embassy. Security forces have brought the situation under control,” said Interior Minister General Bassam Abdel Majid on state television.

Witnesses said after the initial exchange of fire two of the attackers sought refuge in a nearby building, but were pursued and gunned down by security forces.

Syria is an authoritarian state where the security forces exert tight control on the population and the media.

A BBC correspondent in the region says the reported attack comes at a time of heightened tensions between the Washington and Damascus, with bitterness in Syria over US support for Israeli military action in Lebanon.

The US accuses Syria of supporting the insurgency in Iraq and not doing enough to prevent weapons going to Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

In June, four people died when Syrian security forces said they had foiled an attack by Islamist militants near the state-run television studios.

In April 2004, four people were killed in a clash between Syrian police and a team of suspected bombers in the diplomatic quarter of Damascus.

The authorities accused Islamist militants of trying to blow up an explosives-laden car near the Canadian embassy.

Source: BBC