U.S. Consulate attacked in Saudi Arabia

Gunmen have raided the U.S. Consulate in Jidda, Saudi Arabia and taken 18 staff members hostage.

Four Saudi guards were also killed and 18 members of the consulate's local staff were taken hostage, Reuters quoted security officials as saying.

Television footage broadcast by Arab channels showed plumes of smoke rising from the building located in the Red Sea city. The attack took place at 11 a.m., the ministry said in the statement, which was put out by the government Saudi Press Agency.

"It is still an ongoing situation as far as we know," said a State Department spokesman, Noel Clay, in a telephone interview from Washington hours after the attack. "But there are no reports of American casualties or American hostages. All the Americans have been accounted for and are safe."

It looks like this situation doesn't involve any American hostages. Four Saudi guards and one attacker were killed, while two attackers were captured, according to this report. Some reports say the situation is "ongoing" while others say that the Saudis have it under control.

Robert Spencer has a little more on the Saudi reaction, including this AP article which refers to the islamofascists as merely a "stray bunch". Is that because the attackers weren't government-approved islamofascists? Spencer also points out that some of these jihadists aren't even asking their parents' permission before carrying out their fatwas!