Syria: Four Killed In Damascus Clashes

The official SANA news agency said a policeman and a woman passer-by were killed along with two of the four attackers who set off a car bomb in the embassy district.

The vacant building was formerly occupied by the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force, which oversees an agreement between Israeli and Syrian forces in the Syrian occupied Golan Heights, The Guardian reported.

"Unidentified terrorists attacked a U.N. office building in Damascus and this office is surrounded by many embassies as well," Syrian Ambassador in Washington Imad Moustapha said.

The diplomat asserted it was too early to know the motivation of the attackers.

"There was a random exchange of fire and probably every building in that area was hit by a grenade or a bullet" before security forces surrounded the area and returned fire, he was quoted by the British daily as saying.

SANA quoted a security source as saying the attackers were "a terrorist band".

One witness said four gunmen came out of a white van on the main Mazza Boulevard in front of the Canadian Embassy and started shooting indiscriminately.

A police car on patrol in the area rushed to the scene and came under fire, and the police shot back, the witness was quoted by the Guardian as saying.

Police and plainclothes security forces reinforcements arrived shortly after, he added.

Three gunmen were killed and a fourth was taken into custody, according to the witness.

Another witness said the attackers were riding in two cars. Two explosions were first heard and a heavy exchange of fire ensued.

In New York, Marie Okabe, a U.N. spokeswoman, said all U.N. staff and facilities were safe and accounted for.

U.N. officials said that U.N. offices in the capital planned to remain closed Wednesday.

Confirmed

Syrian political analyst Imad Shuaibi was quoted by the Guardian as saying he had learned that two men "attacked with hand grenades and gunfire near the Iranian and Canadian embassies".

Mazza, on the western edge of Damascus, is home to the British ambassador’s home, offices of the Iranian state news agency, the Iranian Embassy and the Canadian Embassy.

Ottawa said its mission had sustained minor damage in the exchange of gunfire between the attackers and police.

British and Iranian diplomatic officials said their embassies were not targeted in the attack.

The U.S. embassy in Damascus said it had no information about the assailants or their intended targets but said U.S. citizens in the Syrian capital should also remain inside until the situation became clear.

"The embassy is advising non-emergency staff and family members to remain in their homes until the situation is clear and encourages private American citizens to follow the same guidelines," the State Department said in a notice carried by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The notice also said the embassy as well as the Damascus Community School would be closed Wednesday as a precaution.