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Last
Tuesday a U.S. marine was killed and another injured when attacked
by two Kuwaitis while conducting wargames on Failaka island
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KUWAIT
CITY, October 14 (News Agencies) - Shots were fired from two
unidentified civilian vehicles at U.S. troops near a northern Kuwait
training area on Monday morning, causing no injuries, the U.S. embassy
in Kuwait said.
"Shots
were fired from two unidentified civilian sports utility vehicles at
United States military units near a northern Kuwait training area
today," the U.S. embassy said in a statement.
"The
incident was reported to occur at approximately 7:50 a.m. (0450 GMT).
The U.S. military units did not return fire: the units reported no
injury," the embassy said.
The
Kuwaiti defense ministry and the U.S. military, in cooperation with the
interior ministry, are conducting a joint investigation, it added.
U.S.
troops are currently engaged in joint maneuvers in the northern Kuwaiti
desert code named Operation Desert Spring.
Monday's
was the third shooting incident in less than a week involving US forces
in Kuwait.
Last
Tuesday a U.S. marine was killed and another injured when attacked by
two Kuwaitis while conducting wargames on Failaka island, 20 kilometers
(12 miles) east of Kuwait City. The two assailants were also gunned
down.
On
Wednesday, U.S. forces opened fire on a vehicle whose occupants
"drew a weapon and pointed it at" U.S. troops in a Humvee
all-terrain vehicle who were heading to their training area north of
Kuwait City.
Fifteen
Kuwaitis were arrested in connection with the Failaka attack and were
referred to the public prosecution.
Interior
Minister Mohammad Khaled al-Sabah said the suspects -- all Kuwaitis --
formed an "organization" that was planning to strike at five
other U.S. and foreign targets.
A
team from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently in the
emirate following up on the attack and probing possible security lapses.
In
another development, Interior ministers of the Gulf Arab states have
agreed to set up a "working team" to fight against terrorism,
the Saudi interior minister said in remarks carried by the SPA agency
Monday, October 14.
"We
have agreed after lengthy deliberations to activate the anti-terror
agreement and to formulate a program of action to fight terrorism in the
Gulf Arab states," Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz said.
"We
have agreed to set up a working team for this purpose ... and this will
be completed within the next three months," the minister added.
Prince
Nayef represented Saudi Arabia at last week's meeting of interior
ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held in
Muscat.
"It
hurts us to see the presence of al-Qaeda members in Kuwait or any other
GCC or Arab state," Prince Nayef said.
"We
want these people to put the interests of their countries above all
other considerations and learn from the failure (of al-Qaeda) which
greatly harmed the Arab and Islamic nations," he said.
Saudi
Arabia was still awaiting information from Kuwait to "see if the
cell there has any collaborators in the GCC states and Saudi
Arabia," Prince Nayef said.
