Shooting outside US consulate in Jeddah leaves two dead, including Nepalese guard

Kathmandu: A shooting outside the United States Consulate in the port city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has left two people dead.

The gunman and a Nepalese security guard were killed in the attack, the latest near the Jeddah consulate. Officials in the US and Saudi Arabia confirmed the incident on Wednesday as investigations continue into the attack.

‘A person in a car stopped near the American consulate building in Jeddah Governorate and got out of it carrying a firearm in his hand,’ a spokesperson for the Mecca Region police said, ‘So security authorities took the initiative to deal with him as required and the exchange of fire resulted in his death.’

The Saudi Press Agency (SPA), a state news outlet, reported the death of the security guard, who was part of the consulate’s private security. No US citizens were injured in the gunfire, the US State Department said afterwards.

The US consulate in the Red Sea port city, home to more than 4.7 million people, has been a target of violence before, including in 2016.

That year, security personnel identified a suspicious person near the parking lot of the Dr Suleiman Faqeeh Hospital, across the street from the consulate.

When they approached the individual, “he blew himself up with a suicide belt”, according to the Saudi interior ministry. The bomber was killed and two others injured.