Attacker commits suicide after throwing grenade thrown at US embassy in Montenegro; no other casualties reported

An unknown person blew themself up after throwing a suspected grenade into the US embassy compound in Podgorica, the Montenegrin government said Thursday. No one else apparently was hurt and there was no major damage. “In front of the @USEmbassyMNE building in #Podgorica, #Montenegro an unknown person committed suicide with an explosive device. Immediately before, that person threw an explosive device,” the official government account tweeted, adding that the device was “most probably” a hand grenade. An AFP correspondent could not see any damage on the spot as police sealed off the area. [caption id=“attachment_1339541” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] The US State Department said embassy officials were working with police to identify the assailant and was working internally to confirm all staff are safe. The US established diplomatic ties with the tiny Balkan state in 2006 after it split from much larger Serbia. According to the government, the attacker first threw an explosive device into the US embassy compound from an intersection close to a sports centre. A State Department spokesman confirmed “an attack on the US Embassy compound”, adding that “at this time Embassy officials are working closely with police to identify the assailant(s)”. A guard at the sports centre who asked not to be named said he “heard two explosions, one after another”. “Police came very quickly and the body of a man was taken away,” the witness told AFP. Montenegro, a small Adriatic state of some 660,000 people, joined NATO in 2017. It borders the Adriatic Sea in southeastern Europe and its capital is Podgorica. It joined NATO despite strong opposition from its traditional Slavic ally Russia. With inputs from agencies