SANAA, Yemen, Sept. 17 -- Attackers exploded a vehicle bomb outside the main gate of the U.S. Embassy in Yemen on Wednesday in what appeared to be a well-coordinated assault that triggered more explosions and heavy gunfire around the compound.
Yemen's official Saba news agency said 16 people died in the incident, including six Yemeni soldiers, four civilians and six attackers. One of the civilians was an Indian woman at the embassy on business.
There were no immediate reports of American casualties. The embassy is located in the center of Sanaa, Yemen's capital, but the building is set far back from an outer security wall.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Yemen is the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden. Al Qaeda has maintained a steady presence here, especially as fighters from the militant group return from Iraq.
The first explosion, at 9:15 a.m., resounded for miles and sent a plume of black smoke over the city.
"It shook everything in my home," said Saddam Hussein, a Yemen man living about 200 yards from the embassy. "One big explosion, then smaller explosions, and gunfire."
The vehicle bomb exploded at the main gate, said embassy spokesman Ryan Gliha. There did not appear to be any major damage to the embassy building, Gliha said.
U.S. officials still were trying to determine the nature of several explosions that followed the vehicle bomb, Gliha said. Hussein and other nearby residents said the secondary blasts sounded much smaller, like grenades.
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