(Jeddah) Two people, including the assailant, were killed in an exchange of gunfire on Wednesday outside the US consulate in Jeddah, western Saudi Arabia, authorities in the kingdom said.
“At 6:45 p.m. local time (11:45 a.m. Eastern Time), a man stopped his car in front of the consulate building before getting out of the car with a gun in his hand,” the agency said. official Saudi press SPA, quoting a police spokesperson.
“The security forces reacted […] resulting in an exchange of fire which killed the assailant,” she added.
A consulate private security officer, a Nepali national, also died of his injuries.
No Americans were injured in the attack, the consulate having been properly confined, said a spokesman for the US State Department, who offered his condolences to the relatives of the killed guard.
The US consulate in the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah has been the subject of attacks in the past, including on July 4, 2016 when an individual blew himself up on the day of the commemoration of the independence from the United States.
Roads leading to the consulate in the Nabeed district had been closed for more than a year, before the diplomatic representation was moved to the less densely populated Al-Muhammadiyah district.
Another attack took place in December 2004, killing five people.
Wednesday’s incident came as Saudi Arabia hosts the major Muslim pilgrimage, which has brought more than 1.8 million worshipers to Mecca, a city about 70 kilometers from Jeddah.