Tunisia US Embassy Stormed, At Least 2 Dead

Violent protests took place outside the US embassy in Tunis, Tunisia today, with several protesters briefly breaching the compond walls, setting fire to cars and raising a Muslim flag.

The demonstrations were a continuation of anti-American protests in the region, reportedly caused by a film blaspheming the Islamic prophet Mohammed, reports Boston.com.

The protests were met with tear gas an gunshots in Tunis, which left two people dead and 29 injured. Waves of black smoke were seen wafting through the city from the area around the US embassy.

Several thousand demonstrators gathered around the US embassy to protest the anti-Muslim film, including some stone-throwing protesters, who clashed with police.

Both of the deceased were protesters, while the injured included protesters and police attempting to keep them out of the compound. One Tunisian employee of the US embassy was seen on a stretcher with an injured leg, but it was not clear if there were any other injuries inside the American compound.

Tunisian protesters also set fire to an American school next to the embassy compound, preventing firefighters from getting near it. The San Francisco Chronicle notes that protesters in Sudan and Yemen also targeted diplomatic missions, while main Islamist groups in Egypt attempted to ease tensions with the US.

In Sudan’s capital of Khartoum, Germany’s embassy was set on fire, while crowds also gathered around the US and British missions. Meanwhile, police used water cannons and fired warning shots in Yemen in order to disburse hundreds of protesters around the US embassy in Yemen’s capital.

In Cairo, Egypt, where the anti-American protests began, more than 1,000 people (including members of President Mohamed Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood), sought to pacify the conflict. Mazhar Shahine, a prominent cleric, stated, “We will get justice for the prophet, but without blood.”

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