3 Killed, 28 Hurt in Attack on U.S. Embassy in Tunis
Three people were killed on Friday and another 28 wounded in clashes at the U.S. embassy in Tunis, which was stormed by an angry mob protesting a film mocking Islam, official media said, citing the health ministry.
Two of the injured were in a critical condition, the same source said, without giving any details about the victims.
Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, from the ruling Islamist party Ennahda, said he was "deeply troubled" by the attack, official media reported.
"Hamadi Jebali has said he is deeply troubled by these events" and "has returned immediately to Tunis," after earlier saying he would be away on holiday for Friday and Saturday, the TAP news agency said.
Protesters also set fire to an American school adjacent to the embassy compound, and firefighters were prevented from approaching by the large crowd. Thick columns of black smoke wafted through the neighborhood. The group that breached the embassy's outer wall was pushed back outside by police and special forces.
A Tunisian employee of the embassy with an injured leg was taken out by stretcher to an ambulance.
Crowds angry over an anti-Muslim film ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad have assaulted U.S. embassies across the Middle East.
Tunisian imams, at mosques in the capital, had earlier called for protests outside the embassy to denounce a film mocking Islam posted on the Internet that has sparked anger across the Islamic world.
The amateur American-made video called "Innocence of Muslims," in which actors have strong American accents, portrays Muslims as immoral and gratuitously violent.
Source: Agence France Presse
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