Gunmen fired at US troops in Kuwait yesterday in the third shooting incident involving American soldiers in a week, but no one was hurt, the US embassy said.
An official Kuwaiti source said it was unclear whether the shots were fired in the air or at the American soldiers. The speaker of Kuwait's elected parliament, Mr Jassem al-Kharafi, adding to Kuwaiti doubts about whether it was a new attack, said: "It has not been confirmed yet what the shooting was. It could have been bird-hunting, it is still not clear".
The US embassy statement said the shots came from two vehicles but the troops did not fire back. The incident was at a military training area close to the Iraqi border. "Shots were fired from the occupants of two unidentified civilian sports utility vehicles at United States military units near a northern Kuwaiti training area," at 7:50 a.m. yesterday, it said, adding no one was injured.
The shooting followed an attack on an island in oil-rich Kuwait six days ago when one Marine was killed and one wounded.Marines killed the two Kuwaiti assailants in last Tuesday's incident.
Kuwait said the attack was a "terrorist" act, arresting suspects it said were indirectly linked to al-Qaeda.
On Wednesday, a US soldier fired a single bullet at a car in northern Kuwait, apparently sensing a threat as troops travelled on a highway. No one was injured in that incident. Official Kuwaiti sources, who asked not to be identified, said no one had so far been arrested in connection with the latest incident.